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Dear Editor,
I want to let Hamilton County citizens know what the situation was like for volunteer poll workers counting mail-in ballots at the courthouse on Tuesday and Wednesday. I made the decision to volunteer, with my three sons and a family friend, because there were so many mail-ins, and many regular poll workers had opted out because of COVID-19. I chose the mail-in count so that it would hopefully be a more controlled situation than a regular polling station.
I volunteered back when I was under the impression that it was to happen at the fairgrounds in a large, open space with better circulation and room to spread out, with all appropriate health safety measures taken.
When it was announced to be at the courthouse, I didn’t back out because I assumed, naively, that Hamilton County would take volunteers’ health seriously. A majority of the volunteers were over 60, mixed with teens/20s, and middle-aged folks. Democratic/Republican partners were only about three feet apart. Employees and volunteers were routinely in close contact in the tight quarters of the council room.
While there were masks, gloves, and sanitizer available, it doesn’t do much good if people aren’t required to use them. Less than half the staff/workers were wearing masks. At one point, I counted 15 of the 45 people I could see were wearing them. The hand sanitizer was available in only two spots – for 60+ people. There was no cleaning/sanitizing of workstations during lunch on Tuesday. There was no indication that the workspaces or the council chambers were sanitized overnight.
Such conditions are irresponsible and foolhardy during a global pandemic where, on June 2, the new infection seven-day average was more than eight new cases per day in Hamilton County alone, and our county is far from a closed system.
The food offered was terrible and not near enough – I’d much rather have the standard $20 for lunch, which wasn’t an option for this count. No way that a breast and drumstick of fried chicken, a thimbleful of coleslaw, a minuscule hockey puck of a cookie and bottled water, pour your own two-liter soda, cost $20. There were four four-foot tables to sit at. There was no coffee, no snacks, no other beverages on hand like the promised lemonade and iced tea.
My ballot counting partner and their family HAD COVID-19 LAST MONTH! They said they were better, but do we know if they had tested negative?? Lots of patients test positive for weeks after. Did county staff ask anyone about symptoms or history? They didn’t ask any of us. We don’t know anything for sure about this virus yet. How do I know my partner wasn’t infectious anymore? I don’t. They didn’t even ask the Health Department to take temperatures.
I’ve been an active poll worker for about a decade now. I want to participate in the future, but there’s no way I’ll do this again, and neither will my kids, under conditions like these. I believe these conditions violated both Indiana’s and the CDC’s current restrictions and guidelines.
To put it bluntly, the whole experience was nerve-wracking and extremely disappointing. The ballot counting itself seemed to go fairly well. But they’ve GOT to make accommodations for an election in November that will more than likely be in the midst of a second wave of COVID-19. They need to make it as comfortable, pleasant and safe as possible for people who literally risking their personal health and well-being, and their families’, to be there.
Karin Maloney Anderson
Delaware 10 Democratic Precinct Chair