'Heart of an election': How one poll worker works to prepare for election year

At the heart of an election are the people who work to make each precinct run smoothly. With elections at the local, state and national level, the Washington County Election Commission's poll workers are beginning to prepare for the long days ahead. Victoria Rodgers, a poll worker for more than 20 years, has been preparing for months already by ensuring the community knows when and where to vote and who's on the ballot. She carries around a stack of more than 50 copies of the Washington County election schedule, handing out hundreds a week. "I enjoy letting people know about when it's time to vote, where do you go vote, how do you vote (and) what do you need to bring to vote," Rodgers said. She said the main issue as to why people don't vote is because they don't know these things and they don't' ask. Rodgers ensures they know without asking. Her role as a poll worker and ensuring people know about the election has played a big role in her life over the past 20 years. She said with politics, everything starts local. "Whatever's happening at the federal level started locally how you voted," Rodgers said. "If you don't like what's happening federally right now, you had a part in that because the people that you voted for locally voted for folks on the state level." Rodgers said every citizen has a duty to stay involved in local politics because it affects their daily lives. "Some people say, 'I'm not involved in politics,' but politics is involved in you," Rodgers said. "Your street, potholes, signs in your neighborhood, businesses, whatever … it's a part of you whether you want to be a part of it or not." For Rodgers the biggest part of her job is letting people do their own research. She said it can be challenging to keep your opinions to yourself as a poll worker but ultimately it is not her job to decide for people who to vote for, rather to ensure they do vote. "You can be a very strong, opinionated person about politics, but as a poll worker, nobody wants to hear that," Rodgers said. Training for poll workers begins in April for the primary election. Poll workers must attend training for each election happening this year. "Just because you went to the training in March does not mean that now you are trained for August and October," Rodgers said. Each role has its own training process on what to do in any given scenario to ensure everyone who shows up to vote will vote. "Everybody's gonna vote one way or another, either on a machine or through provisional which is a paper ballot," Rodgers said. "Whether it counts or not is not up to us." Rodgers is working as a registrar for early voting and on election day for the Washington County primary election. "I always tell people, go early vote," Rodgers said. "Never wait until the (election) day." She said voting early guarantees two weeks for registered voters to go to their precinct. Waiting until the day of creates complications and some may decide not to vote. Rodgers said she looks forward to seeing the results of the local election and being able to vote for new people. "We got 15 County Commissioners (and) some of those 15 will put their names in the hat again and that's fine," Rodgers said. "But out of those 15, there are going to be some new people to put their names in the hat." She said the most rewarding thing about her job is talking to voters and other poll workers. She said because of the long days, all the poll workers will bring a dish and have a potluck for lunch. "Being a poll worker is a constitutional right, is a civic duty and a personal responsibility," Rodgers said.