When asked what to tell people who don’t vote because they don’t feel like their vote matters, Rachel Brown says, “Do more than vote! Not voting is not the answer. Do more than vote.” She encourages her millennial generation to get involved in politics. She herself recently ran for public office.
Democracy depends on its people. The extent of my involvement in politics has been to vote. I am grateful and inspired by those who do more than vote — volunteering in political campaigns, running for public office, volunteering to help with elections, ….
Poll Watchers
Volunteers support our election process in different ways. One place to do more than vote is to be a poll watcher. Volunteers from the political parties act as poll watchers to ensure the integrity of elections. Dave Klaus tells of his first-hand experience as a poll watcher. What does a poll watcher do? Read more and find out. His story inspires me.
On Poll Watching by Dave Klaus (reprinted with permission)
During the election, I volunteered as a poll-watcher in Reno, Nevada for a week during the early voting process, and the experience gave me unexpected hope.
Poll-watchers do just that: sit quietly and watch the process of voting. Every once in a while there will be an issue, where someone wants to vote but they just moved and they don’t have all the papers they need to prove residency, or the person showed up to vote in the wrong county.
When something comes up, the poll-watchers perk up and observe to make sure the situation is handled appropriately.
We also check to make sure the polling station opened and closed on time, and make careful notes.
While I was volunteering on behalf of a specific party, the focus is on the voting itself, not who is voting for whom. Every one who comes to the polls should be able to cast their legal vote.
Although I have voted in nearly every election since I turned eighteen, in all those years I had really only a spent minutes inside the station, so this was very different: for five consecutive days I sat inside various polling stations from 7 am before the polls opened until 8 pm after they had closed.
It reminded me of being on a weeklong zen retreat: hours and hours of stillness with little conversation and little movement. I got stiff and sore, and my mind wandered, even as I kept bringing it back to attention, over and over.
It was a long quiet meditation on democracy. And it was delightfully boring!
I realized quickly how important the rule against electioneering is.
No one was allowed to wear their political “team-wear” at the polls. No Posters or T-Shirts or Hoodies proclaiming a favorite candidate or party. No Flyers or Buttons or Pennants. No Political Hats or Sunglasses or Scarves.
As a result, it was hard to tell who was voting for who, and this made all the difference.
I admit I had had some fears about doing this. I was expecting there might be protests, or aggressive action, or maybe even violence.
I knew that Nevada is an open-carry state, and that some voters might be armed. I also knew that tensions were incredibly high around this election, for both sides.
And yet in five days of watching, I never saw a single instance of hostility or disagreement.
It seemed that when voters were able to free themselves of their signifying differences, their externalized tribal loyalties, that everybody got along just fine.
I saw strangers chatting each other up in line. A big burly construction worker in work pants stood amiably next to an elderly lady in a puffy coat. A parent with toddlers conversed with a tall cowboy in tight jeans and a fancy Stetson. A random guy walked up and down the fifteen-minute line handing out glazed donuts to anybody who wanted one.
I found myself smiling a lot, and I became more and more relaxed as the week went on.
This was really working! The poll-workers were competent and engaged and infinitely patient, and the citizenry of Reno seemed committed to exercising their democratic franchise in a peaceful and respectful way.
Democracy was working!
Perhaps it was because it was hard to tell who was actually who?
Without a Biden T-Shirt or a red MAGA hat, it was difficult to tell which side anyone was on, and without these obvious differences, folks just chose to get along and do the process. Facing my own projections, I could see how desperately my mind SEEKS to divide everyone into groups, and yet, here we all were, doing this most fundamental act of democracy.
…
When we purposely drop into our hearts, beneath the differences of opinion and politics, there is a possibility of true connection. … I learn, again and again, that I am not alone in my fears and my hopes. My opinions may lead me to a different political goal than you, but underneath all that my fears and hopes are likely not much different from yours.
I am worried about my kid’s future. I am worried about the economy. I am worried about the fires and the virus and the weird weather. I am hopeful that our system can survive and thrive in these times of apparent division. I am hopeful that our democracy will endure.
I am hopeful that underneath the slogans and the media and the shouting, that we are all, as Ram Dass said, simply human beings holding each other’s hands and walking ourselves home.
Blessings to you all,
Dave Klaus
Originally published in an email series titled, On Purpose, by Dave Klaus.
On Purpose is a conversation fostered by The ManKind Project USA (MKPUSA) and Dave Klaus. The ManKind Project supports a global network of over 1,000 peer-facilitated men’s groups serving close to 10,000 men each week. In an MKP men’s group, men mentor men through the passages of their lives.
MKP empowers men to missions of service, supporting men to make a difference in the lives of others – men, women, and children around the world. We help men through any transition, men at all levels of success, men facing almost any challenge. Our flagship training is described by many as the most powerful men’s training available: New Warrior Training Adventure.