My reflections as an Election Volunteer, 11.05.24

Taking Note on Election Day, November 5, 2024

By Tanya Pietrkowski

I have been busy with clients and volunteering and tend to write when something important comes my way that I feel I need to share—the monthly intention to write ain’t working.

I am ready to share observations about the experience of voting and getting out the vote in the latest election. I spent time canvassing door-to-door in Chicago, Milwaukee and my childhood state of Georgia. I’m writing this before I know the results—because it’s the state-of-the-process that I want to focus on now.

I happily voted early in Chicago and it was busy. Always a great thing!

In Milwaukee, the local Democratic Party was overwhelmed the Saturday I volunteered with two busses of Divine Nine (Black sororities & fraternities) volunteers ready to get out the vote. The local office was overwhelmed, so I stood outside and let my friends get our canvassing assignments. It was celebratory.

In Chicago, when I am canvassing my neighborhood, on Saturdays-I know that we should avoid knocking on doors with mezuzahs (prayer parchment in a little box that is affixed to doorposts of Jewish homes). This is an example of being a member of a certain community and I keep engagement and cultural respect in mind wherever I am.

Canvassing on the backroads of Bulloch County, GA can involve carefully driving on wet dirt roads, respecting trespassing signage and having a natural ability to match the addresses on mailboxes with the houses (something I found tough). At one point, my internet gave out, so I had to brush up on a local map to get my basic bearings. In some cases, I knew which families lived nearby and whether or not they needed a reminder to vote.

I also can’t emphasize enough that Hurricane Helene has taken its toll on many areas of the SE—North Carolina, GA and more. While driving down the four hours from Atlanta, I kept seeing pine trees broken like match sticks. While canvassing in my hometown, there were big, beautiful trees torn out by their roots and piles of dead timbre by streets and ditches. Several homes were destroyed. The carnage has got to affect how people are feeling about where they stand right now.

I also witnessed a huge Confederate flag with Trump overlayed flapping in the backwoods. There is no question of the message of intimidation that was being shared and it certainly worked on me.

I came back to SE Georgia partly to observe voter turnout and factors that are affecting getting out the vote because I am from here originally. When we say the word “Voter Suppression” it comes across as something that is actively being done to us. Many times, the suppression is the result of bureaucracy, indifference and ignorance. When you add the layer of fear, misinformation and miscommunication, you have a whole new level to the suppression theme and a fanned movement pushing us towards autocracy that is based on the predilection of those wanting to take power by any means necessary.  

On Election Day, a previous poll watcher in Jones County, GA was arrested for threatening poll workers in a letter to the Jones County Elections Superintendent. Many of us have heard about ballot boxes being blown up in Oregon and Washington state. And, today, Fulton County has received fake bomb threats at five polling places, in which two had to be closed temporarily to check for bombs. There is an understandable nervousness that I think many election workers are facing across the country.

For instance, I was supposed to be a poll watcher for the Democratic Party in a very small 300 voter-sized neighboring county precinct. Wires were crossed and I was unable to gain the credentials from the local election office, despite the many entreaties and proof by the state party that they had worked with the county party and submitted all the prerequisite paperwork. I drove there twice in one day to the election office (about 30-40 minutes each way, depending on where I was coming from) and was unsuccessful.

Out of all the volunteer poll watchers assigned to polling sites statewide by the state party—I am noted to be the only one that was unsuccessful in gaining my assignment. The election clerk felt badly but was very concerned that if it appeared she made an exception for me, what would happen? I won’t go into the details, but I empathized with her, regardless of my disagreement with the decision. Our board of election workers and all the volunteers that it takes to run elections are being harassed and their safety is in question. Can I really argue with her for feeling paranoid that she isn’t following every rule, whether I believe she is interpreting it correctly or not?

Later, I ran into a woman who shared that her friend and husband in Florida waited four hours to vote with their registration cards in hand. He got to vote and she didn’t. I gave her the number to the voting protection hotline to share with her friend.

For those trying to create havoc, it’s not a question of your faith in the voting system, but your attempt to destroy something that works for the most part.

We also must work against indifference. I stopped for lunch in a small SE town and an older woman was encouraging her young co-worker to vote. The young woman responded that she doesn’t discuss politics and that we should just vote for her. Encouraging someone to vote in general is far different than telling them how to vote. This conversation was sad on many levels.

On the other hand, I love seeing the enthusiasm to get out and vote. The first door we knocked on in Milwaukee included a new citizen who was about to vote for the first time. He was so excited by our knock and pumped his arms as if winning a marathon and in some ways he has. I saw a gentleman sitting on his porch in Bulloch County and he was pleased to see someone knocking on doors and he had voted early!

Whatever happens in this election, we must ensure that we take the time to sit around a table and listen and talk with each other. The cancel culture that is happening across families and friendships and towns and government are exceedingly divisive and dangerous. Lastly, by referring to people as less than human or suggesting violence—we are encouraging the vitriol that will tear apart the country and globe. Civic engagement involves voting, empathy, listening and action.