On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, Burlingame students had the opportunity to witness democracy in action and assist in its operation by working at polling stations through the San Mateo County Registration & Elections Division’s Student Democracy Program. Their day began early, with students arriving at around 6:30 a.m. to work shifts that often extended into the late evening. Students spent their day completing a variety of tasks to help the voting and polling process run smoothly.

“I the whole day have either been, loading voter ID cards or printing their ballots, or I’ve been checking in people and, checking that their forms are eligible. That’s what I’ve been up to all day, and then otherwise I’ve had breaks,” second-time program participant senior Shani Roitman said.

Roitman’s decision to volunteer again stemmed from her desire to support her community and to learn more about the election process, especially as a first-time voter.

“I decided to work at the polling place because I did it during the primaries, and I feel like it’s just a good thing to do as a person. It’s kind of a way to give back, and it means a lot for people to vote, especially these days,” Roitman said. “And then also, since I’m 18, it’s my first time voting. So it immersed the experience because I was able to see all the people voting, but I was also able to vote myself.”

Senior Jayden Harjani also participated in the program and was surprised to see how collaborative and extensive running a poll booth is.

“[I’ve learned] like how many people it takes to actually run a voting booth, and how intricate each part of the process is, and how much manpower it takes to run a democracy,” Harjani said.

For Roitman, one of the most memorable aspects of volunteering was the positive reaction from the community.

“I learned that [volunteering at the polls] matters a lot to older people, like whenever whether it was the primaries or this election, a lot of people would thank me for my service and tell me, what a good deed it was to do. And it seemed to matter a lot more to people that I was volunteering than I thought it would, so that kind of surprised me,” Roitman said.

While participating in the program provides students with volunteer hours and monetary compensation, senior Emmett Kliger, who has also worked at the polls, noted other benefits of the experience.

“I think I got out of the experience the faith in democracy and that just sort of goodwill of everyone coming together for a greater purpose. We didn’t talk politics. We didn’t talk who we supported personally. We tried our best to avoid it. And it’s really important to be able to have safe places to go and vote,” Kliger said. “When I’m eligible to vote, I know that my vote will be in good hands.”

Kliger encourages interested students to apply if they have the opportunity in later elections.

“Go for it. Your experience might vary, but it’s definitely worth it,” Kliger said. “You get an inside look at how elections work, which is such a cool opportunity, even if you’re not that in the politics, or if that’s not you’re calling, I think everyone serves to benefit from doing it, because you really get that inside look of why things are happening the way they are, how things are happening, and you just get to help people, and that’s a cool experience.”

This story was originally published on The Burlingame B on November 6, 2024.