Last Saturday, I spent 15 hours in the Waialua Elementary
School cafeteria, helping my fellow citizens exercise their civil rights.
Despite the excessively long day, I felt really great about contributing to the
community in that way, and I’d highly recommend the experience to anyone with a
reasonable amount of stamina.
In providing quality customer service to voters, I felt like
I was selling them on the democratic process. When people have a pleasant
voting experience, when they can understand the rules of a single-party
primary, they are much more likely to come back the next year and vote again.
On the other hand, if they feel ignorant or belittled, they will not come back. It’s easy to get confused while voting in
the primary; lots of people don’t know that they can only select candidates
from one party. Precinct officials who are polite and informative are a huge
help.
One problem we encountered over and over throughout the day
was confusion as to which polling place voters were supposed to attend. The
Waialua/Haleiwa area had been redistricted since the previous election, and a
significant number of people who live in Waialua were assigned to the Haleiwa
Elementary polling place. Understandably, they came to Waialua instead. It was
really inconvenient for them to drive somewhere else to cast their vote, and
for some (think old ladies who rode the bus to vote), it was near impossible.
This could have been avoided by better publicizing the redistricting; ads in
the newspaper and on the radio would have been low-cost ways to improve public
awareness, and allow more people to vote.
I learned a lot on Saturday, and took pride in being so
intimately involved in the political process. The difference you can make is
direct and immediate, while taking just one day. This is rare, and anyone with
the ability to take advantage of it should do so!
Disclaimer: I speak as an individual, NOT on behalf of Common Cause Hawaii. All opinions are my own.
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