Students learn about democratic process as Washington wraps up final year with polling stations

Nov. 4, 2008 started out like any other day. Instead of blue, the sky was a dull grey. Traffic on I-5 was heavy and the only red I could see were the hundreds of brake lights in front of me as I drove from my house to the UW.

After sitting in traffic for a gas-guzzling 40 minutes and driving around the U-District for another 15 looking for parking, I finally found a spot and headed over to the University Temple United Methodist Church.

On the outside, the church would’ve looked inconspicuous if it weren’t for the silver vote robot standing at the top of the church steps. A small green sign reading “vote” in English and Chinese was the only indication of the phenomena that occurs every four years.

Inside, 10 poll workers were working hard to prepare for the election that would change America forever. Among them were three UW students who gave up more than just a Tuesday for an opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the democratic process.

These students, along with more than 140 others, are involved with a new poll-worker recruitment program launched by King County Elections. Called Partnership in Democracy, communications lecturer Taso Lagos implemented the program at the UW after taking study-abroad students to Athens, Greece during the summer.

“I wanted students to be election monitors in Europe for The Organization for Security and Co-operation (OSCE),” said Lagos, the founder and director of the Athens Communication Research Seminars. “But before they can be monitors in Europe, they needed to have practice and experience in the November election.”

Lagos held a seminar for the honors program to teach people about election monitoring, and was informed by the King County Election’s office of the partnership program.

The work hasn’t been easy. Lagos sent out letters to other departments and gave presentations in classes urging people to be a part of this opportunity. Hoping to involve a variety of students, he visited UW Bothell.

“A representative came into my Intro to Globalization class [and] told us about it,” freshman Keri Riley said. “I thought it was a great opportunity because it’s such a historic election to be involved with.”

To prepare for the election, students gave up two Sundays in October for training sessions.

“The sessions were about three hours long,” said sophomore Dustin Lagos (no relation to Taso Lagos). “Two King County workers had classrooms of about 20 of us, and there we learned the step-by-step procedures we needed to know for Election Day.”

This election was a first for many students. Most of the students knew nothing about the democratic process beyond what they had learned in school.

“I think a lot of people don’t really understand the work that’s done behind the scenes,” Dustin Lagos said. “After doing this, you get a good understanding of the dirty work of the entire process.”

Each student was given a workbook to refer to, and they were divided into teams of three with each team working at a different polling station.

“The students will be working for 16 hours, from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. at night,” Taso Lagos said. “Their commitment is amazing, and I hope that they realized they have made a contribution to the community by making sure that the stations are open so people can vote.”

After entering the church, I walked down a hallway to the polling station. In contrast to the bright lights and the noisy construction outside, the room had several chandeliers that produced a soft glow. Large stained glass windows added to the ambiance of the room.

The polling place wasn’t what I expected. The place I imagined was loud and as crowded as a New York City sidewalk. Instead, the place was enveloped in the soft hum of voices growing stronger as the steady stream of voters entered the room.

“[The turnout has been] heavier than usual,” said Randy Flodquist, the church inspector. “Usually they come in spurts, but it’s been heavy all day.”

The 10 poll workers were spread out among the room. In one corner, graduate student Karine Mathisen and sophomore Joelle Jackson were acting as provisional judges. They’d been busy managing the seemingly never-ending line for provisional ballots. Several other workers were overseeing the eight represented precincts. Riley, the AccuVote judge, was busy assisting voters with submitting their ballots and handing out the ever-important ‘I voted’ stickers.

Sentiments were mixed about this being the last election in which Washington will have polling stations. Next year, everyone will vote by absentee ballot.

“I’m very sad about it,” Taso Lagos said. “For me, doing this whole process made me realize that the polling station isn’t a place where you can go drop your ballot. It’s more like a classroom; it teaches people about democratic participation.”

The slight murmur of chatter between the workers and voters was broken by the shouts of a man complaining about having to get a provisional ballot that was to be counted later on.

A few minutes later, the cries of a woman worrying that her vote wouldn’t count echoed through the church hall. Passion was in the air.

Partnership in Democracy will donate $150 to Taso Lagos’ Athens program for each student who helped at the polls. More than 140 students participated.

“No matter the outcome, everyone is a winner since we’re living in a democracy,” Taso Lagos said. “It’s very inspiring for me as teacher.”

Reach reporter Nicole Ciridon at features@dailyuw.com.