By Grace Beauregard
Naomi Cohen and Emilia Brueggemann are two Saratoga Springs High School students who did a favor for Americans this past fall – they worked at the local polling place during the presidential election. Through an online interview, Cohen and Brueggemann shared the inside scoop on this important job.
Q: What led you to decide to work at the polling place?
Emilia Brueggemann: Well, I am 17 so I was unable to vote in this election. I’m the Treasurer of the Young Democrats Club, so I’m involved in politics. I wanted to be a part of this election in some way because it felt so monumental for our country. I was also interested in the process of voting and counting the ballots. I wanted to know more about it because it was such a focus in this election, and a process that was heavily scrutinized by many people but also highly regarded by others.
Naomi Cohen: I came into this position via my mother. My mom is involved in Wilton politics, and she knew that there was a shortage of poll workers at the Gavin Park location. They were looking for anyone, but they seemed to be pretty excited about some gen-z representation. Almost all of the poll workers were senior citizens who have been doing it for years, so I think they were excited about some new excitement–and help with technology.
Q: What was your role working there?
Emilia Brueggemann: I was an election inspector. I got there at 5:30 am and helped set up the ballot machines and get everything else ready. Then until 1:00 pm I handed people ballots and checked them into the system. There had to be a democrat and republican representative for each polling station. I served as the democratic representative for the district I was working at. Also, this was not a volunteer position. I had to go through training, and I will get paid by the Saratoga County Board of Elections.
Naomi Cohen: For each district, there is a table with a ballot box, sign-in iPad, 2 Democrats and 2 Republicans. We switched jobs every so often, some of the time I spent signing voters in and handing them their ballots, and some of the time I spent sanitizing the ballot privacy sleeves and handing out “I voted” stickers.
Q: What was your overall experience like at the polls? Would you choose to do it again?
Emilia Brueggemann: It was a great experience. I will be doing it again. Luckily, it’s something I can do for the rest of my life.
Naomi Cohen: I had a good time working the polls. It was relatively slow, given the giant surge of early voting. I would definitely be interested in doing this work again, and I’m seeking out opportunities in our community for upcoming smaller scale elections.
Q: Was the experience what you were expecting? Did anything stand out to you?
Emilia Brueggemann: Leading up to the election everything in my life felt on edge. My family, friends, and I were all nervous. The news was playing constantly in my house. It seemed like every aspect of my environment was so politically focused and anxious. That’s what I expected working at the polls to be like. I thought that there would be fights breaking out and that it would be very politically overwhelming. It was not that way at all. Honestly, I found myself for the first time in weeks forgetting what was going on in our country. I mean of course I knew there was an election going on, but the climate felt so calm. Everyone there was incredibly friendly towards each other, no matter what party they belonged to. That’s probably the thing that stood out most to me, that the experience I thought would be full of tension, was actually incredibly amicable and harmonious.
Naomi Cohen: I expected to be working a nonstop 8 hour shift full of stress and tension, which ended up being far from my experience. It was actually more comforting than stressful. The day was inherently stressful of course, but the environment was surprisingly calm. It was nice to sit down with someone from the opposite party not as enemies, but as two people interested in politics. We had lots of time between voters, so we had conversations about pretty much everything but politics–grandchildren, college, food and so much more. I would honestly go on to say that my experience with this woman from the opposite party was eye-opening. It’s so easy to assume that everyone with beliefs different from yours is a bad person, but this woman was just like my grandma. It’s hard these days to actually sit down with someone and talk, and I got an excellent opportunity for that.
Q: What is something you want people to know about what you guys did?
Emilia Brueggemann: Have faith in our voting system. At first, I was thinking how secure can this be if they let an inexperienced 17-year-old be a part of it, but now I realize there is very little room for tampering. It is a simple process that is relatively straightforward. So, what I want people to know is that your vote counts, and it matters.
Naomi Cohen: I want people to know how easy it was. Obviously, it wasn’t some blow off job, but the procedure was quick to pick up. If you’re interested–look into it! Poll workers are always needed.