Presented verbatim, check out this voter's experience:
When I arrived at the Roberto Clemente Recreation Center at 18th and Green streets at 8:30 a.m., there was a line of nearly 20 people waiting silently to vote that extended outside.
Suddenly, there was a lot of loud talking, that made me suspect that there was some sort of disturbance going on. I wondered if the police needed to be called.
Curious, I went to the front of the line and noticed a disheveled man in a gray sweatshirt holding a pack of Newport cigarettes. He appeared to be in some sort of dispute with the poll workers. It was hard to make out what it was about. But there was a lot of back and forth between him and the four other poll workers. From his appearance, I assumed he was homeless and maybe hanging around too much. I guessed that the workers had asked him to leave and he had refused.
But as the line inched forward, I could see that the man appeared to be helping the poll workers. At on point, he entered the voting booth with a voter. When he wasn’t doing that, he stood - at times all bent over - in the rear of the voting machines, touching the back of them from time to time.
As I made my way from the hallway into the room, the man started calling out to me. I ignored him but he wouldn’t stop. When I turned to face him and give him an “are you crazy look” he said, “Oh, you’re not ready for me yet, hah, hah?” as well as some other things that I couldn’t make out.
Meanwhile, there was more joshing and guffawing going on among two of the poll workers - one of whom had her hair tied up in a bandanna. When I got to the front, the poll worker, another one who’d been laughing and talking and making all manner of complaints about a would-be worker who’d arrived carrying a sleeping infant in her arms, jumped up as if she were startled and looked at me in a really crazy way. Instead of reacting, I simply stated my name.
She turned and started explaining the spelling of my last name in an exaggerated fashion and then handed me the book to me to sign. Glancing down, I noticed that the place where she indicated was next to someone else’s name. I informed her of her error and then went into the booth. After I voted, the homeless looking guy yelled out to me, “Hey, slim, do you want my business card.”
I didn’t turn around. I was too disgusted. It seems wrong that civic-minded people should be subjected to this kind of tomfoolery when faced with such an important task as voting.
Comments (2)
We have one utterly unconfirmed report that a poll in SW Philly didn't open on time this morning because poll workers were scared of the neighborhood. One would assume the poll workers were from the neighborhood...good grief.
Posted by wendy | November 7, 2006 1:59 PM
Hi,
Wendy, I believe I observed exactly the bizarre behavior you talked about at the Roberto Clemente Rec Ctr this AM. I was standing in line in the doorway to the polling room when the outburst occured.
I can't imagine why that guy was allowed to loiter in there in the first place, but especially after his outburst. I sure didn't appreciate him hanging around behind the voting machines.
Another "welcome to Philly" experience for me, I suppose... There have been many.
Posted by Thad | November 7, 2006 3:43 PM