Maybe crabby poll workers should keep their opinions about Ted Kennedy to themselves

In Boston, Election Poll Workers set in place to oversee voting are actually City of Boston employees for one day - the day of the election - and are paid a limited stipend equivalent to about $9/hr. It is a single day appointment with no benefits.

Persons who are poll workers are required to attend a 2-3 hr class once per year to learn or refresh their job expectations and review changes - if any - in voting laws. It takes shorter time for those experienced, and longer for the newbies.

The election day starts at 6 AM to open and set up the polling place by 7 AM. Blank ballots have to be accounted-for and counted to assure what was sent matched a receipt that traveled with the ballots from City Hall. There is an opening and closing process that must be witnessed by at least 2 people to assure all ballots and machines are handled properly.

Throughout the day Inspectors (the people that check you in and out) oversee the rules and periodically check the count on the machine with their check-in and check-out books. At the end of the night all 3 must agree or you get to stay there late until you figure out what happened. A clerk assigned takes minutes of all of the things that happen including unruly people, problems with aggressive campaign workers, when someone needs assistance (the blind for example), when people go to dinner and lunch, and anything else of note, including the periodic calls from City Hall to check in on you.

A Warden oversees the rules and works with people who need to change addresses, are lost and don't know where to vote, or who have recently moved and want to vote even if they are not on the voter list. The law requires that every opportunity is afforded a person in order to allow them to vote, even if it is hand-counted for a host of reasons at the end of the night.

Quite often poll workers are subject to people who feel they can change the voting laws on site, don't like the choices given to them, and often fail completely to fathom why in a party primary, you cannot have one of each ballot because they like someone on each of them.

Of course there are write-ins. At this point Mickey Mouse has easily won several national elections. He just failed to get enough signatures to be on the official ballot. It happens. What a waste.

The issue as described is not condoned and it is the responsibility of the site warden to take action and if necessary either dismiss the poll worker or get clearance from city hall to do so. City Hall sends roving overseers out several times a day to make certain all is well as well.

Much of this is not seen by the public. They get to come in, vote, and get on their way. It is a very long day (and night).

After the ballots leave the polling place they are taken by the police officer to city hall to be checked in. Once in the door they are clocked and their paycheck ends for the night. However, if something is amiss with the box and bag they brought in, they must remain and guard it until an election commissioner audits the contents and dismisses them. This means they are guarding your votes off the clock. Those people working at City Hall pull all-nighters.

The other unsung heros are the custodians of the buildings used as polling places. They cannot go home until the poll workers clear all of the ballots and processes. If they are lucky they leave by 8:30 pm. If not... well get a cup of coffee or a pillow.

Then every so often something shines that makes it all worth while. Like the guy that voted and came back to the check in table to shake everyone's hand with tears in his eyes. He had just become a citizen and it was his first time voting in the USA, and an experience where he didn't have to duck a beating or risk getting shot, but was greeted with respect and a smile and addressed as "sir."

We take too much for granted.

conservatives everywhere seem to have great disdain for the voting process.

He was 100% about getting rid of (at least) 1/3 of our politicians. "Politics" was never supposed to be a career, yet now we have people (on both sides of aisle and at every level of government) who have never held a a job they weren't elected to.

Oh, and Kennedy did kill someone...not quite murder, but someone died because of his actions. Not an appropriate joke, but it's still amazing how selective people's memories are. I'd guess that if that happened today, he'd be in jail...or at least (I hope) not reelected.

.."electioneering" and is supposedly prohibited within some defined distance from a voting area.

Someone with more knowledge of process than I will hopefully provide details.

He was probably just there to make sure the 'coloreds' don't try a spot of voter fraud as it is so endemic and a very important issue for teahadists.

This, of course, led to a bit of multi tasking as it is always important to vilify the late Senator at every turn like it's some right wing cred rosary to read aloud.

And those electioneering rules are just insidious over regulation, unlike the 'real regulation' to keep an eye on votor fraud.

It would be illegal if he were expressing an opinion about a candidate on today's ballot.

Yes, won't it be nice when they all die off? Then we can all think the same without any pesky counter opinions!
Yay!