Election Volunteering: Committee of Seventy

My experience with election volunteering was for the most part a positive one. I did encounter a few resistant participants, but my group and I made the day fun and original.

I volunteered in West Philadelphia around the Drexel campus area. There were not a lot of people out voting at the time. However, the people that did come out to vote were supportive of what we were doing. When we needed to ask people questions most of them stopped and were willing to answer them. There were five questions total, but they were worded in a difficult way. Often times we found ourselves rephrasing the question for people to understand. I believe next time in order to make this more successful the questions should be worded simpler. They should be worded differently for people that do not have a very extensive background in politics.

Another thing that may have made this experience better is going at a later time. I think it should be at a later time because a lot of people are at work at the time that we were out there which was 9AM to 1PM. This may help get a better poll outcome on the survey.

Being involved in Election Day in Philadelphia was an original experience. My group and I encountered a variety of people. Some that were willing to speak to us and some that were not. The ones were not willing to speak to us mainly had to go to work or something else important. The ones that did speak to us were pleasant people to encounter. One guy, in particular, gave us a lot of things to think about as far as our next time coming out. He told us that we should get involved in this process earlier than election day. I do agree with him. We were taught extensively about politics, but more hands on work would be good.

Overall, this experience was an enlightening. I will be going out to vote the first year I am eligible to. Also, since Election Day I have urged the adults in my life to get out and vote!

Below are some sample ballots and a group photo: