|
Volunteers at the polls help make elections go smoothly |
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
If someone took a poll on why those who help out on election day locally enjoy doing so, some of the common denominators would be the variety the job entails, getting to meet new people and the learning it involves.
By Jennifer Elves
Taber Times
Dale Osburne, Mary Hooge and Charlotte Fletcher like helping out at the polling stations partly because it means meeting new people.
It is a job you don't get to do every day and what volunteers do on election day is different for each level of government, so it is a learning experience each time.
"It is all different. You can't say, 'oh, because I've done provincial it's going to be done the same for federal - it's not," says Hooge.
She stresses while elections for all levels of government entail counting ballots at the end of the day, they operate and are set up differently.
Hooge helped out with federal elections a few times, provincially the last time an Alberta election was held and has worked at the municipal level a few times.
Hooge and Osburne, who are both retired, say it seemed like a good fit for something different for them to engage in during retirement.
"I've never done anything like that before, so it was a different avenue to pursue," says Hooge. "I think because you are a senior it doesn't necessarily mean you can't learn. You can. There is always something to learn."
Osburne, who has lived in Taber for 19-and-a-half years and worked at CIBC for 38-and-a-half years, says it is a type of volunteer work anyone could do.
"I just saw the ad come with the water bill and I thought, 'oh, I can do that,' " he says. "It's not a stressful or hard job to do."
Although it is done on a volunteer basis, those who help out on election day get paid an honourarium. For Osburne, who will be serving as deputy returning officer on Monday, March 3, this will be the second election he is helping with. The first one he assisted with was Taber's last municipal election. On the municipal level, he said it is exciting to be one of the first to know who comes out on top. He adds with Monday's election the only results he will know right away will be from the polling station he is at.
Fletcher, who has been a Taberite since 1980, gave the volunteer experience a try after a friend asked her to help out and when she did, she realized how much enjoyment she could get from it.
"I'm just interested in this kind of thing. I like to know what is happening in the country and I like to see who is in charge of it - who is going to be making the laws that effect our lives," she says. "Every level of government affects us, so you have to be interested in who is looking after it."
Hooge says while she enjoys being involved in the election process, it can make for a long day.
Fletcher says on one occasion, she had to be available at 6:30 a.m., with the day not ending until around 8 or 9 p.m. This time, polling stations open at 9 a.m., which means volunteers will need to start at 8:30 a.m.
"There are times when you don't get anyone in for quite a while and then all of a sudden you get a big line up. You can only do so much at a time," says Hooge, who adds the biggest rush generally occurs when people get off work or shortly after supper at around 5 p.m. or 6 p.m.
Osburne says while it is a long day, it doesn't feel very long because volunteers get the chance to get up and walk around during slow times. Fletcher adds despite it being a long day, it is worth it in the end.
"It's a service you do for your community or your country. You just put up with the long day, do your thing and talk to a lot of people when they come in." |
