Classroom Publication

Media Credit: Bridget Streeter Lee Jackson speaks on voter turnout.

Media Credit: Bridget Streeter Poll workers wait patiently for polls to close.

Media Credit: Bridget Streeter Kiynana Davis and Eric Benbow pause for a picture before collecting their results.

As I walked into the Salvation Army on South Ferry in downtown Albany it was nothing like I was expecting it to be.

Walking in ten minutes before polls closed for the general election on Tuesday I was surprised to see voters were still waiting at one of the eight booths.  There was an energy you could feel as soon as you entered the room.  It gave me a reassuring feeling that things were about to change in this country. 

“Making history 2008” as Lee Jackson put it was the general consensus of the group.  With voters who were 40 and 50-years-old coming out to vote for the first time in their lives.

I introduced myself to one of the many workers and explained that I was there as a student reporter to collect poll numbers for Capital District Election Services.  As polls weren’t officially closed yet I had the opportunity to talk to some of the enthusiastic workers who were very eager to share their thoughts on the election.

“Lets make history baby!,” Kiynana Davis, a young polling official, said to me.  Davis, along with all of the other workers is a big supporter of Obama and was extremely excited to be part of such a monumental election.

“Now that we have the experience for a change we should keep the change instead of altering it,” Eric Benbow, 20-year-old polling official and first time voter, said.  Like Davis, Benbow felt honored to be able to cast his vote for Obama.

As the polls closed at 9 p.m. the dynamics of the room drastically changed from a collected calm to an organized chaos.  Numbers were being shouted from all directions and after being initially overwhelmed I got to work collecting the results.

After several minutes it was clear to me that Obama had won the district, and before I knew it everything was packed up and over with. Unfourtunately I was not fast enough for the workers and was not able to get one of the polls numbers

All of the workers were patient and helpful, understanding that it was first time working for CDES and the overall experience was exciting.

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