Spoils and Victors
Observations from election day at the polls
"The machine wouldn’t take my ballot." The man looked annoyed, perhaps even ready to pick a fight. His wife stood nearby, looking similarly annoyed. As the voting judge assigned to spoil ballots—ballots on which someone overvoted, or didn't fill in the circles correctly, or made a mistake—I took the ballot from him and said, "Hmm." I scanned the ballot to see if I could find where he may have overvoted one of the contests, and mentally noted who he'd voted for. As I began running a thick black marker down the first column of votes, I saw where he'd made a tiny ink dot in one of the circles in the second column. "Oh, I think this is what happened," I said to the man and showed him the dot. "The ballot scanner saw that dot and assumed it was an error—those machines are quite sensitive." He seemed only slightly placated. I finished writing SPOILED in large black letters on both sides of his ballot, marked his voter activation slip, and gave him a fresh ballot. He muttered his thanks and walked back to the voting booths. After he and his wife were out of earshot, I whispered to the voting judge next to me, "I think he was about to claim his vote was being denied because of who he was voting for," and she nodded, a grim look on her face.
Out of all the voters I encountered last night at the polling place where I worked, he's the one who will likely be prominent in my memories of the US presidential election in November 2024. There were first-time voters of all ages, genders, and races. There were multiple generations voting together, assisting each other with reading or marking their ballot. There were voters who wore blatant campaign hats or shirts. There were excited, happy voters and steely-eyed, grumpy voters.
But that one guy sticks out.
Maybe all the propaganda and sound bytes over the last few months lead him to believe that polling places in a blue state would have machines set up to favor ballots marked for non-GOP candidates. And if so, rather than come back to the ballot issuance table with a sheepish grin or simply a request for a new ballot, he walked up with palpable anger.
Perhaps my own political leanings and personal biases influence my thoughts about that voter. But he wasn't the first voter with a ballot requiring spoiling that day. My polling place ended the day with over 1500 ballots counted and more than 30 spoiled ballots: several were because the voter put an X or checkmark in the circles, rather than coloring in the circle with black ink. Other spoiled ballots were because of overvoting, frequently in the presidential race. One young neurodivergent voter cried out "oh no, oh no, oh no" when she realized she'd made a mistake, and I gently reassured her that it was okay, she could do it over.
As I write this, I wonder how many voters will cry out "oh no" when they realize they made a mistake. When they see how their decisions have impacted vast numbers of the U.S. population. When someone they love is in desperate need of medical intervention during a pregnancy, but federal and/or state laws have made it impossible for them to receive care. When their families cannot get food or necessities because assistance programs have been terminated. When children can't get a free public education because the school systems across the country have been decimated.
Today I've been thinking about kids a lot, likely because of my work at Wagstaff, and all the kids I've gotten to know there. I took today off before knowing the outcome of the election, as I knew I'd need a day to rest after 12+ hours of poll work. But I kept thinking about the LGBTQ+ kids at school, the ones who are out and the ones who aren't, and how much more difficult it will be to keep them safe. And I think about all the girls who saw so much promise in this election, and had to hear what happened over breakfast this morning.
Tomorrow I'll head back to school and hug several colleagues. Perhaps a few students will come to me for a hug or to chat. Maybe I'll have conversations about what comes next, about how we will work to create a safe space for everyone. But that spoiled ballot and its victor will never be far from my thoughts.
on a FB thread, someone asked, do you really believe half the U.S. got it wrong? YES. I absolutely do. And I'm appalled and frightened. Why can they not see what's coming?
As I write this, I wonder how many voters will cry out "oh no" when they realize they made a mistake. When they see how their decisions have impacted vast numbers of the U.S. population. When someone they love is in desperate need of medical intervention during a pregnancy, but federal and/or state laws have made it impossible for them to receive care. When their families cannot get food or necessities because assistance programs have been terminated. When children can't get a free public education because the school systems across the country have been decimated. - Thank you Corinne. I am, like so many, so very sad and disappointed, wondering this very thing. When will they realize what a huge mistake they made?