A rough day at the polls

Alfred Biddlecomb
Published: September 23, 2008

I haven’t missed voting in a presidential election since turning 18 in 1986. My first presidential election was Bush vs. Dukakis two years later. Though I was on a Navy frigate somewhere in the Persian
Gulf, I filled out my absentee ballot, had a witness sign it and mailed it back home to the elections office in Heathsville, Va.

That process was streamlined compared to what I’m facing this year. I base this on two factors. Elections officials throughout Northern Virginia are expecting high voter turnout. Also, as usual, we’re
running short on poll workers. 

According to various news sources, Virginia will open 2,500 polling places at 6 a.m. on Nov. 4 when voters must choose their next president. The commonwealth needs about 10,000 volunteers to work
the polls and is currently 1,500 workers short.

Translated: Expect long lines and frustration at the polls on Tuesday.

Another factor working against me is my job. I’m now one of the many faceless commuters who must drive over the river and through the woods from Washington, D.C., to cast a vote. And for the D.C.
commuter, Election Day and Halloween are the two most frustrating travel days of the year.

When I first moved here to work at the Potomac News in 1998, voting in Woodbridge was a snap.

Even during the 2000 presidential election I had no problems voting. We were still using the mechanical lever voting machines and everything was great.

This began to change in 2004. Despite our precinct having fancy new, state of the art digital voting machines, voters waiting to cast their votes were backed up outside the elementary school into the
playground area.

After waiting for an hour, I could hear the frustrations in the cell phone conversations up and down the line. Then a busload of seniors pulled up and things really got dicey. Eventually, the rush of voters
were processed in a timely matter and I walked into the Potomac News office only two hours late.

All the digital technology in Silicon Valley couldn’t remedy the problem at the polls. This was a people problem. There just isn’t enough of them.

Making matters worse this year is the fact that Virginia is now in play. The Old Dominion was comfortably in the Republican column in 2000 and 2004 was also a safe win for President Bush. Voter
turnout in Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park that year hovered around 68 percent.

This year will be different. Democrats are refusing to concede Virginia to John McCain, even though the state has not supported a Democratic presidential candidate since LBJ in 1964. With impressive
victories by Mark Warner and Tim Kaine for governor and Jim Webb for U.S. Senate, the battle lines for the commonwealth’s 13 electoral votes have been drawn. Suddenly, a 68 percent voter turnout
seems like an underestimate.

If you need proof, just turn on the TV and count how many times per hour you hear “I’m [enter Barack Obama or John McCain] and I approve this message.” Political parties don’t spend this type of
advertising cash in a state they don’t expect to win.

One way to ensure the polls are manned with qualified workers is to treat it like jury duty. People do not volunteer for jury duty, they are volunteered.

Each locality that can’t recruit enough workers to man its voting precincts should be required to select names from the voter rolls to serve. Those selected would be required to serve two or four years and will receive adequate training while receiving the normal compensation. Those coming forward to volunteer will in turn have their names stricken from the list for possible jury duty candidates for five years.

Requiring these “recruited” poll workers to serve two or four year terms would preserve continuity and make voting during the busiest election cycles much easier for all those involved.

It seems like a reasonable plan, but it will never happen. We love our right to vote and equally love our right to be selfish.

Alfred Biddlecomb is the former opinion editor for the Potomac News and the Manassas Journal Messenger.