Some time ago my wife and I decided to help Los Angeles County to conduct the 2020 Presidential Election. We were required to take an on-line training class, pass an extensive test, followed by another in-person class. Eventually, we were assigned to work at a local Election Center for five days, from October 30 to November 3.

This was our first opportunity to volunteer during an election, especially as important and controversial as the 2020 contest promised to be. The hours were long and often tedious. The most uncomfortable part was having to wear a facemark during the 12 hour workdays. Overall, it was a very positive experience: we’ve met many great people, made new friends and learned a lot. The following is a concise report of what we’ve seen, heard and felt.

The Volunteers

There were 25 or so people who contributed their time and effort to assist the election process. Among us were 6 high school students and a 94 year old gentleman with many interesting stories to tell and the patience to listen to ours. The rest of the group consisted of young / middle-aged professionals with demanding jobs, businesses and children to attend to.

We had talked to almost everyone in the group at length and were surprised to discover that all of them were supporting the Democrats. There was not a single conservative person around! Perhaps, it was just the luck of the draw and other precincts were packed with the Republican supporters – we just don’t know.

Work Assignments

There were 3 major roles we had to play during our work days.

The first one was to greet the incoming voters, ensure that they were wearing face masks, and assist them in getting to the Center.

The second assignment was to check-in voters via an on-line system and print ballots for them to use during the voting process. This was a critical part of the election, since many people were first-time voters and had to be registered on the spot. At the same time, we had to make sure that no one was able to vote more than once. The computerized system proved to be an effective tool in finding voter records and flagging questionable situations. The solution was to permit a “questionable” voter to cast his / her ballot, but this ballot was placed in a separate “Provisional” pink-colored envelope. Each provisional vote was to be analyzed by the County’s special process and either allowed or disallowed to be counted.

The third job was to help voters operate the new computerized voting system, which was not a trivial effort. Most of the people who needed help at the polling stations were non-English speaking immigrants or elderly. Since we often worked at the voting machines, we were able to see and hear people’s voting choices. It is our conclusion that 9 out of 10 of our “customers” voted for Trump.

Incidents

Thankfully, there were no serious incidents during the 5-day election period.

However, there were some improprieties: some voters yelled political slogans, refused to wear face masks, did not follow the voting rules or maintain social distancing. All of these people were clearly on the Donald Trump side, which was evident by what they were doing and screaming.

There was also a large pick-up truck driving around the Election Center on Nov. 3rd. The truck was carrying a massive Donald Trump flag, an even larger Stars and Stripes, along with the “Thin Blue Line” flag.

Note: it is not against the law to advertise a candidate or issue, as long as it is done at a certain distance from the precinct’s entrance. I was just wondering if there were any Joe Biden, Black Lives Matter or ANTIFA trucks in existence? I have not seen any.

The Voters

Overall, our precinct had processed just under 2000 voters during the 5 day period. We never had lines of people standing outside the center, even on Election Day.

It may be a “politically incorrect” thing to do, but is always tempting to group people’s behavior by their ethnicity.

There were lots of Armenian voters. Many of them had never voted before, they clutched brand new US passports and had to be registered to vote on the spot. They spoke Russian and required assistance with the computerized voting process. Frequently they told us: “I only want to vote for the President”. We had to show them how to skip 26 other issues on the computer screens and get to Donald Trump, whom they inevitably chose.

Pretty much the same can be said of all Russian speaking immigrants who voted at our precinct. A few of them directly asked us: “Did you vote for Trump?” and were unpleasantly surprised to hear that we didn’t. One voter, a Jewish man from Kiev, voted for Trump in order to defeat a socialist revolution in America. “I am a business man and I am forced to sleep in my business with a loaded gun in my hand.” I chose not to debate this point with him.

We’ve seen and helped many non-English speaking immigrants: Israeli, Iranians, Indians, Latinos. More often than not, they expressed their support for Trump. The same can be said about white senior citizens who came to vote using their wheelchairs and “walkers”.

Overall, the nicest and the most pleasant voters were African Americans as well as white people in their 20’s and 30’s. They were very appreciative and polite. Also, it was a delight to talk to the 17 year old volunteers who had been working next to us. They were very knowledgeable and caring young people. They were sorry that they could not vote in the current election season, but they were very much aware of what was being decided in the political contests.

A group of beautiful young women who call themselves @BrownGirlsDream brought boxes of Dunkin’ Donuts to treat us, the Election Workers.

In Conclusion

America is a complicated country. Its population is 330 million people, out of which 254 million are eligible to vote. On a usual Election Day, less than half of them actually cast their ballots. During the 2016 elections about 130 million people took part in the voting process. In 2020 this number has grown to more than 140 million people – a record, I believe.

Having played a tiny part in this complicated process, Elena and I now have a completely new appreciation for what it takes to execute an election across 50 states, countless counties, and 6 time zones. Especially, given that this election had to be conducted during one of the worst pandemics that is taking place in modern history.

The election process must be improved and modernized. It is hard to imagine what would happen at the election centers across the country if 200 million or so Americans will decide to vote during one day in November.

If people in this country can use the Internet for their on-line banking and shopping, why couldn’t they vote via the Internet?

In the meantime, the very outdated process is laying squarely on the shoulders of a few dedicated volunteers and country officials. A huge “Thank You” to all of them!