I have been a poll worker for about 7 years and working early voting for the last four of them. I started working early voting during the presidential primary in 2020. Back then people came to vote and Hazmat suits. Since then every election has really been a practice election for the presidential election of 2024.We actually had to do many of the things that we only read about in our manual. I worked the first 5 days of early voting at Brooklyn Borough Hall. About 95% of the time every table had a voter. Sometimes the line was an hour long but usually it was less than 5 minutes.At the end of each day a lot of the pull workers congratulated ourselves on how hard we worked and what a good job we did. Because we did.
We are not allowed to have beverages on the tables we work at. Even before the polls open and our computers are not on the tables. The polls opened at 8:00 a.m. and we were supposed to show up at 7:00 a.m. On the second day of early voting I showed up at 6:30 in the morning so I can have a cup of coffee before everything got started. As I was entering the Starbucks diagonally cross street from Borough Hall I noticed a very elderly woman with a walker talking to a police officer. In her hands was all the paperwork that you get in the mail to tell you about the election. Before I went into my get my coffee I asked her if she was here to vote. She said yes but she wasn't sure what time the polls opened or where to go. I looked at her paperwork and told her that I was a poll worker and that she's supposed to vote across the street but the polls don't open for 90 more minutes. She said She thought they opened at 6:00 a.m.. I said no that's unreal election day but if you wait for me to get my coffee I'll walk you to the door where you enter into. The cop made eye contact with me and thank me.
While for us to walk around the building and the building security had just unlocked the door. On the way there she apologized for her physical condition She told me she wasn't always like this She used to own a business and go skiing. She used to have friends. I told her that's all fine and today you're going to get to vote
I used my Brooklyn voice to inform the Borough Hall police officers that this was the first voter to come in when the polls open at 8:00 a.m. and that she needed to sit inside on a chair. They heard me. When I went upstairs I told the line management crew that the first voter was already sitting inside. I thought that was the end of it.
At 7:59 a.m. my coordinator came running over to me and told me that the lady I had walked into the building would not come up the stairs without me.I jumped up and escorted her right up to my table so I could issue with her a ballot. I did that and walked her over to the accessible privacy booth so she can sit down and take her time with the ballot. Then I let the inspectors at the scanning machines know that she might need some help getting over to the machines. I told her that the men standing next to her would help her when it was time for her to actually cast her ballot. She looked right at me then and said "Thank you and I love you."
i'm told everyone in New York City who work the election in 2024 got this thing mailed to them. I happen to know why I got mine.