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So there's good news and there's bad news.
The bad news: I will not be able to vote in Monday's federal elections.
The good news: It's because I will be working as a Deputy Returning Officer at some poll in the Town of Mount Royal!
I had no idea I was going to be working at the elections, so I didn't vote in the advanced polls this last weekend. Since I won't be working at my own poll (or in the school/polling area where my own poll is), I can't leave my polling station and go vote.
I'm pretty sure that my riding will go Liberal without my vote, and hey, I'll get to count votes and stuff, so I'm still being involved in the election. Although it irks me that I technically will not have had a say in the formation of my new government. I truly doubt that my one vote will have made a difference in this riding, though.
So Wednesday involved going to school and getting the contact information for Elections Canada (and meeting up with C and swinging on swings with her and having an ice cream cone and then three episodes of Sex and the City, with brownies). Today involved calling Elections Canada and getting to the office of the Returning Officer.
My experience as a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) in the Quebec provincial elections last April basically got me the job, which pays $35 for two hours of training tomorrow afternoon (1pm-3pm) and then $181 for a 13 hour workday on Monday. 9am-10pm, baby.
My duties:
Verifying people have proper ID, explaining to them how to vote (in English or French, their preference), taking a ballot from the pad, initialing it, folding it, handing it to the voter, letting them go vote, taking the folded ballot back from them, tearing off a tag and then handing the ballot back to them to put in the box.
After the poll is closed, I get to open the box, count the votes, disallow any spoiled ballots and basically make sure we're not missing any ballots at all, while my poll clerk verifies my numbers on the votes each party received. (Incidentally, it is illegal to eat your ballot. I'm not kidding, this is an actual question asked on the Elections Canada website. See?)
Anyways, you're probably bored to death now, but I love working at elections. Expect posts about being nervous prior to the election and expect posts about being really exhausted and sore afterwards. :)
Time to shower, I think, 'cause I'm waking up earlyish. Gotta leave here at like, 12:30 in order to get to the training on time. :)
The bad news: I will not be able to vote in Monday's federal elections.
The good news: It's because I will be working as a Deputy Returning Officer at some poll in the Town of Mount Royal!
I had no idea I was going to be working at the elections, so I didn't vote in the advanced polls this last weekend. Since I won't be working at my own poll (or in the school/polling area where my own poll is), I can't leave my polling station and go vote.
I'm pretty sure that my riding will go Liberal without my vote, and hey, I'll get to count votes and stuff, so I'm still being involved in the election. Although it irks me that I technically will not have had a say in the formation of my new government. I truly doubt that my one vote will have made a difference in this riding, though.
So Wednesday involved going to school and getting the contact information for Elections Canada (and meeting up with C and swinging on swings with her and having an ice cream cone and then three episodes of Sex and the City, with brownies). Today involved calling Elections Canada and getting to the office of the Returning Officer.
My experience as a Deputy Returning Officer (DRO) in the Quebec provincial elections last April basically got me the job, which pays $35 for two hours of training tomorrow afternoon (1pm-3pm) and then $181 for a 13 hour workday on Monday. 9am-10pm, baby.
My duties:
Verifying people have proper ID, explaining to them how to vote (in English or French, their preference), taking a ballot from the pad, initialing it, folding it, handing it to the voter, letting them go vote, taking the folded ballot back from them, tearing off a tag and then handing the ballot back to them to put in the box.
After the poll is closed, I get to open the box, count the votes, disallow any spoiled ballots and basically make sure we're not missing any ballots at all, while my poll clerk verifies my numbers on the votes each party received. (Incidentally, it is illegal to eat your ballot. I'm not kidding, this is an actual question asked on the Elections Canada website. See?)
Anyways, you're probably bored to death now, but I love working at elections. Expect posts about being nervous prior to the election and expect posts about being really exhausted and sore afterwards. :)
Time to shower, I think, 'cause I'm waking up earlyish. Gotta leave here at like, 12:30 in order to get to the training on time. :)
