Photo Illustration courtesy of junior Linnaea Marks.

 The 2020 Presidential Election was far from normal. Aside from the new systems, new voters, and the intense political factions, we as a country were deep in the middle of a massive pandemic.

Normally, seniors and many other immuno-compromized citizens were poll-workers, but especially now, young people needed help-out.

Many San Luis Obispo High School students rose to the occasion.

Expressions decided to reach out to these student poll-workers to ask about their experiences and thoughts about the 2020 Presidential Election. 

  “Since I couldn’t vote in this election, and I was super passionate about it, I wanted to get involved any way I could. The most empowering thing about working the polls was seeing first time voters walk in knowing that their voice made a difference in such a pivotal election,” said senior Sophia Lindvall. 

  Being a poll-worker comes along with many different rules and regulations. Some of the most important rules include avoiding electioneering, or political debate, clothing, or any visible affiliation with a political party or belief. This offered many different issues to many workers because of the heightened political awareness and beliefs, and the reason why this rule is paramount is to avoid voter suppression and intimidation. 

“I had a great experience as a poll worker for the 2020 election. It allowed me to further my knowledge on the voting and ballot counting process and all the precautions that are taken to ensure an accurate count of votes. I also had a lot of fun talking to the other volunteers and meeting new people,” said senior Olivia Cisneros.

  A person’s vote is extremely important to them. For many individuals, it is viewed as their service to their country, so when it comes to the new system that was introduced partly because of COVID-19, many were feared that their vote could become invalidated or unimportant. This fear was also heightened because many political parties and news sources warned against voter fraud, suppression, and corrupt systems. The fear of fraud and corruption wasn’t affiliated was a single party, granted the fear may differ but many voters feared the worst. 

“I was working at the Provisional Ballots table, so if someone wasn’t registered to vote in SLO county, was a first-time voter, had a problem with registration, etc, they would come to me and fill out a provisional ballot form. I would then check the form, make sure they filled everything out correctly, sign it, and pass them on to the ladies at the ‘get your ballot’ table. I was surprised by the number of people that actually came to vote in person this year, I was not expecting it to get as busy as it did. Also, the majority of people that came in were young people–first-time voters, high school/college students–which was great to see that they were turning out. For me, it was nice to be able to (somewhat) be a part of the process, considering I am too young to vote yet could be largely affected by the outcome of this election. I also made some great friends among the “young” ladies I was working with,” said senior Hayden Ventrella.

  The election is a very patriotic time for many Americans, regardless of political party and belief. Many feel part of the great machine of American Democracy.

The same goes for the poll-workers.