Why Bother?

Reflections on Engaging in the Democratic Process

Meg Riley

“It always seemed to me that votes were counted in a glorified version of tallying up who would be class president. The year 2000 changed all that, for me and for millions of other Americans.”

(Minneapolis, Oct. 28, 2004) When my partner Kendrick and I registered to vote after our recent move to Minnesota, we both checked off the little box that read, “I am willing to serve as an election judge.” To our delight, we were selected to do this just a block away, at the neighborhood elementary school where we will cast our own votes in next Tuesday’s election. Last week, we sat with about other Minneapolitans to receive our training and instructions.

I’ve only worked at the polls once before, when Jimmy Carter bested Gerald Ford in 1976. At that time, the minimum wage payment served as sufficient enticement for my student self. During that election and for years afterward, I never gave a thought to the fact that we entrust the very backbone of our democracy to thousands of, essentially volunteer staff. It always seemed to me that votes were counted in a glorified version of tallying up who would be class president—pulling papers out of a box, with impartial or balanced witnesses there to ensure fairness, and then announcing the winner. The year 2000 changed all that, for me and for millions of other Americans.

But the training for election judges did not reassure me that things at the polls are going to be fine. For instance, we have on the spot registration to vote. In order to register on site, you need only to have a neighbor who is a registered voter, who is willing to vouch for your address. That same person can attest to the residential legitimacy of as many people as he or she wants, simply by saying that this person lives where they say they do. It could take days, weeks or months to sort through the morass of the authentication process for the many new voters who will flock to the polls this year.

Minnesota also allows anyone who feels they should be able to vote, but are noted as being unable, to sign an affidavit that they should be able to vote, and then do so. The whole thing is held together, as I noted to my partner with distress and alarm, by a trust that we can count on one another’s word! This trust, for me, was completely shattered by the 2000 election and what took place in Florida, St. Louis, Missouri, and at other polling places across the US.

But the leader of our training program exemplified good old Minnesota fairness. She warned us that we could make no reference through word, clothing or paraphernalia to our party affiliation or candidate preference. I have been doing a great deal of nonpartisan voter registration work, as well as private work for the candidates I support, in this election. But it is in my official role this year – that of election judge -- that I feel I will most embody a key Unitarian Universalist value: respecting the worth and dignity of every person. I hope to embody fairness and impartiality, not only through what I DON’T wear or say, but through kindness, patience, and welcome to all voters, even if the going gets tough.

“Be as wise as a serpent and as innocent as a dove,” Christian scriptures read. “Praise Allah, but tie your camel to a post,” the Muslim saying goes. In our faith, we might also quote our own Theodore Parker, who spoke of government “of the people, by the people, for the people” while refusing to live out P.T. Barnum’s dictum that “There’s a sucker born every minute.” May Election Day find us living out all of this wisdom.

Unitarian Universalist Association
25 Beacon St. | Boston, MA 02108 | 617-742-2100