When I first got the email to volunteer as a poll monitor, I was hesitant because I had just started at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and I did not know what to expect. I plucked up the courage to go to an unfamiliar place because the importance of voting was instilled in me before I was tall enough to see the screen at the ballot box.
I vividly remember going with my parents to vote as a kid. We even dressed up, because voting was a serious activity. We stepped into the booth with a curtain for privacy and I had to step on a stool to actually see the ballot.
I excitedly grabbed an “I Voted” sticker and wore it proudly at school for the rest of the day. At such a young age, I did not understand who was running or what politicians actually did, but I understood that voting was important.
The basic routine for monitoring a polling site includes driving to a site pinned on a Google map, taking pictures, and filling out a form. I looked for problems, such as improper electioneering, intimidation, accessible routes, and long lines.
LDF’s Black Voters on the Rise program coordinates activities to fight voter suppression efforts 24/7. LDF’s 119 volunteer poll monitors in Alabama blanketed 23 target counties and submitted 758 reports. This is the largest number of poll monitor reports from Alabama since the program began. Volunteers were dedicated to protecting the right to vote for Black voters across Congressional Districts (CD) 2 and 7 and Madison County.
As I went from site to site, older Black women with Black Voters Matter shirts approached me ready to hand me a sample ballot. They would be momentarily disappointed when I responded to their outstretched hand with “Oh, I am not voting.” But, then welcoming of the fact that I was tasked with making sure poll sites were accessible for all. The volunteers shared their recollections of the fight for the right to vote and their experiences with suppressed Black power, reminding me of the purpose of poll monitoring in Alabama–to support Black political power.
Supporting Black political power in CD 2 as a poll monitor led to the election of Shomari Figures. Shomari Figures will join Representative Terri Sewell in Congress and represent the newly formed Congressional District 2, a Black opportunity district that LDF and their partners successfully fought to create at the Supreme Court. Figures is just the fourth person to ever represent Alabama in Congress. That is Black political power in action.
My sister, Starr (21), also poll monitored in a state that had a historic win at the national level–Maryland. Marylanders elected Angela Alsobrooks as the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.
“Thanks to an opportunity from Common Cause and Transformative Justice Coalition, I volunteered during a midday shift at an elementary school. I was there to help ensure that everyone could exercise their right to vote and it truly felt like I was fulfilling my civic duty.”
Starr and I followed in our parents’ footsteps as the next generation of poll monitors, and more young people should take this extra step of showing up at the polls to protect the right to vote.
My dad, Clarence, first volunteered to be a poll monitor in 2008 for the General Election in Halifax County, Virginia–our hometown. “I remember high excitement with long lines all day.”
It was important for him to volunteer to provide voters with “some level of confidence about following through on their plan to vote without them being deterred by intimidation or threats.”
My mom, Tonja, poll monitored for similar reasons this year as well. This was her 28th year as a poll monitor. She first got into poll monitoring through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
“People were excited and seemed more comfortable to vote when they saw me sitting outside because they recognized me as a classmate. I think that being a repeat poll monitor also relaxed the election officials on duty so that we could work together to help voters.”
My dad and Starr were prepared for the worst, but felt like their polling locations were calm and civil. Their experiences were similar to my experience in Alabama in that there were no lines nor questions to address. But, I reported consistent accessibility issues. A lot of sites had unpaved parking lots and limited or no marked accessible parking. In the coming weeks, LDF will compile the reports so that the data can be used in advocacy efforts with state election officials.
No matter where you are, poll monitoring is a great way to be a civically engaged citizen. As my dad says, poll monitoring “is one of many activities that can create that great feeling of knowing that you were able to help someone through an important aspect of their life,” with voting being the most important.
Just like my mom, dad and sister, I plan to be a poll monitor in the future because the need to educate, inform, and assist with voting will always be needed.
Will you join us?
You can follow Imani at @MsImaniB on Twitter.