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Lehigh Valley Election News

Dedicated Allentown poll worker hopes Election Day runs smoothly

Sandy-Simon-poll-worker.jpg
Mariella Miller
/
LehighValleyNews.com
Sandy Simon has been a poll worker and a judge at Allentown District 15-1 since 1996

ALLENTOWN Pa. - Her mother once told her never to pass up an opportunity, so when Sandy Simon saw a “help wanted" sheet at her neighborhood polling place in 1996 asking for workers, she signed up.

Easily garnering the 10 signatures required to get on the ballot herself, Sandy Simon was voted in as a poll worker 26 years ago.

She’s been there ever since: first as a poll worker and more recently as a judge, reporting at 6:15 a.m. twice a year to prepare for the primary election every spring and the general every first Tuesday after the first Monday every November.

The polls open at 7 a.m., but there’s set up: tables to put up, coffee to make.

Simon said she loves her country. And she puts all she has into everything she does, including her role in Allentown’s District 15-1 at the East Side Youth Center.

“There’s no better country in the world,” said Simon, whose husband Don works in the finance office at Lehigh Valley Public Media. “But it’s been a mess the past few years.”

For poll workers, in particular, the past several election cycles have been rife with threats and unrest seen across the country.

Though 1996 was a simpler time, electronically speaking, it was physically harder then to reset each metal machine, she said, after it was used by a voter.

Simon saw the switchover to electronic voting machines which were easier to reset, requiring only a computer card to change each machine to Democrat or Republican.

Now counties throughout Pennsylvania want a paper trail, she said.

Right before the election she and her husband, who works at another polling place in south Allentown, must travel to the Lehigh County Government Center to pick up a suitcase full of supplies that include 300 Democratic and 300 Republican paper ballots, glue sticks, and — thanks to the pandemic — sanitary supplies like masks and hand sanitizers.

“Oh, and a ton of those ‘I voted’ stickers,” she said with a side eye and half a comment about the waste of money.

The paper ballots present challenges to some voters, she said.

“It’s complicated for some people,” she said. “You have to be careful to fill in each of those circles just so or the machine kicks it out.”

“And you only get three tries, then you have to use a provisional ballot. Some people just give up and go home.”

One of the reasons Simon keeps returning to the polls is that most of the people who come in are her neighbors, whom she has known for decades.

It’s the same with her team of poll workers.

Most of her team members are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, she said, and they’ve become a family of sorts that extend to the neighbors who come in to vote. For example, each voter must sign in on an electronic tablet when they arrive and often the woman who usually operates the tablet knows them, pulls up their name and has the device ready before the voter even gets to the registration table.

She feels safe, she said, despite reports of poll workers being harassed and worse.

“We’ve never experienced any of that,” she said. But she’s aware and wary.

A constable is usually there to announce the opening and closing of the polling place. Lehigh County has a “rover” who goes from place to place to make sure things are proceeding smoothly.

Additionally, there are spot checks performed by the Department of Justice to make sure everyone is getting the opportunity to exercise their right to vote without complications.

There are about 1,000 registered voters in Allentown 15-1. In May, only about 245 people came out to vote in person. She said she hasn't been told how many voters from her district mailed in ballots.

The worst “trouble” she’s had over the years was when one man came back to the polls later one Election Day and wanted to vote a second time. She told him to leave, and he did.

Still, today’s political climate can be intimidating. Even a little scary. Simon talks about political leaders who disseminate certain ideas and can’t be convinced otherwise.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I’m hoping for no problems on Tuesday.”

Sandy Simon will be there, steadfast and steady at the East Side Youth Center, just like the democracy she's pledged to preserve, protect and defend.