Unusual Polling Sites [Cont.] / Bringing Elean Straub to the Polls
What's the significance of this place? The plan is here.
They have different affairs with these.
What was the place like? Dad, I couldn't tell you.
He's retired, so he's got no problem.
People are very protective of their neighborhood and their society.
I don't work for Water, but I don't know nothing about this place.
When Water comes in, the whole process...
Should I hold him? Yeah, I will.
Paul, this is a polling place.
It's a pretty typical polling place for the city of Chicago.
What we've got here, first of all, is a policeman who was assigned to the polling place to make sure that order is maintained while voting goes on.
Also, before voting starts in the morning and at night, after the voting stops at 7 o 'clock, when the judges are tabulating all of the different votes.
So a voter would come in and they would be seen by these precinct workers from different candidates.
They'd come up to this table and they'd identify themselves to the judges of election.
And they'd give their name and they have to say what kind of ballot they want to receive.
If they want to get a Democrat ballot, a Republican ballot, or in this case we've got a nonpartisan ballot for people who just want to vote for, say, Alderman.
So they declare their name and the ballot that they want.
And in Illinois, the rule is that they've got to do that out loud.
And the judge is then supposed to repeat that information out loud.
And so the precinct worker can write down who has come to vote.
And then at a certain time in the day, they know who hasn't come to vote.
And they can go out and find those people, make sure that they turn out, so that their candidate gets all their votes.
Before the voter comes in, by the way, he runs into the precinct captain outside.
And even at this polling place, there's a precinct captain standing outside with a couple of his friends and associates who are there to encourage people to vote for the candidate of their choice.
In this case, those precinct captain and workers are a little closer to the polling place than they're supposed to be.
But that's really up to the discretion of the judges as to how far they're going to keep those people away.
So you sign in, you sign in on the application for ballot.
And the applications have got the names of the voters pre -printed now.
So the judges go right from the application to the binder card, the precinct binder card.
And this is the original voter registration card that voter signs when they register to vote.
And that's all organized by alphabet in this precinct.
They all get put into these big precinct binders.
And the actual signature of the voter on the application for ballot is then compared to the signature on the binder card, the signature at the time the person registered.
And if those comparisons match, if those signatures in that comparison match, then the voter is issued a ballot.
So they get their ballot from the judges and they then have to take their ballot, and the ballots are actually back over there.
They take their ballots over to these votamatics.
And these are the actual voting stations.
And as you can see, you've got a Harold Washington Party voting station, Republican Party, and then the Democratic, and that might be a nonpartisan.
So the people come in, they've got to go to the correct voting station because in this punch card system of voting, we've only got the Harold Washington candidates visible to the voters in this booth and likewise for all the other parties.
When they complete their voting, they punch out who they want to vote for on the card by looking at the ballot.
They walk it over to a judge who will at that time be standing here next to the ballot box.
They'll hand it to the judge and in the presence of the voter, the judge is supposed to tear off the top of the ballot and hand that to the voter as a receipt.
Then they take the ballot and the envelope in which the ballot is placed and they put it into the ballot box, as I say, in front of the voter.
Then the voter is finished and the voter gets a ballot receipt.
I've got mine right here and then that shows that you actually voted.
You've done your civic duty and off you go.
In the old days, some people get more than one of those receipts? They might get more than one, but they wouldn't go around showing them to people, right? In the old days.
I don't think it's happening too much.
I think the system is still, you know, I'll tell you, I don't want to bore you, but those binder cards are going to go.
The binder cards are going to go because we can now digitize all of the signatures so that when you register to vote, the computer takes an image of your signature.
And what will happen in the future is those binders will never leave the board of elections.
We'll keep them at the board of elections for record purposes.
But on the election day, they'll get the judges.
May I pick up one of these? Implication for ballot, there will be the digitized signature that the person signed when they registered to vote.
And so the comparison will take place right on the ballot.
These are the ballots, by the way.
They are standard ballots are for the Republican.
The green are for the Democrat.
These are for the Harold Washington.
And we might have some nonpartisan.
The white ones are for the nonpartisan.
So you so we'll be able to eliminate to eliminate the binder book.
And I think the judges will the judges like that? Yes.
Do you like these? These could be fast.
Oh, where the eight? Thank you.
No, no, it's crossing the phone.
Was like Peter Loffridge in there? Dean Martin? Isn't that Dean Martin on the other? I can't see.
And the boxers? That's Zaylin.
I was wondering what kind of things.
That's the list of the people that died.
That's the list of the people that died.
Oh, you don't belong to the club.
How do you know so much about the club? They come back and they go to the bill.
We'll teach you whatever you want.
What would you tell us? The best in the world.
Why? Because it's clean and honest.
You go out here and do your work and nobody hassles you.
You would be hearing it off from the wrong people then.
You've got to come out here to the worst and talk to the people that do the work.
Nobody does nothing to us because nobody here wants to go to jail for anybody.
Whatever we do is all legit and straight.
We do it the best we can out here.
So what do you do? I'm just trying to hustle up some votes for Daly and Walter Bernance.
I'm out here doing the same thing.
Just trying to back Daly's people.
And try to see that he gets as much power in city council as possible.
Trying to get the best people in office possible.
So you'll help us again? Sure.
We've still got some little work to do later on.
What do you have to do? If they don't show up, we've got to go door to door and ask them to come out and support our people here.
What do we do? What we do is we hit the polling place.
I mean we hit the trees about 3 o 'clock in the morning.
At a corner in a polling place.
Ok? So I was out here 3 in the morning.
And made sure that I got choice spot.
And then we started passing out the reminder door hangers.
And then after that we sit and buy the judges donuts coffee.
To make sure that they're opened up by 6 o 'clock.
Which my judges are real good for that.
So I try to pamper them as best as I can.
With as little funds as possible.
So we're working on a very tight budget this election.
So I hope the young lady here will be more than happy to go along and to come out and vote.
There's a few people that are hesitating because of the weather.
Too many people sometimes on the corner.
When you have 10 candidates they're all swarming each other.
To get that pom -pom to that person.
We're going to try this young lady here.
I'm the precinct captain here.
So I try to give her whatever service she can.
And she calls me whenever she needs something.
But you're sick in the head and I'm sick on the phone.
Come on they want to put you on camera.
I'll walk with you to the polling place.
I keep you on the stand with me.
Put your hand on and you're in your big overcoat.
I know that but I'm a sick old lady.
But I need you to come and show these people that I can bring out the vote.
Just to the corner right there.
I'll walk you there and I'll walk you back.
You better not be taking no picture.
The cameras want to come and see him vote.
Michael! Is she a plus five? Huh? She can't.
She has a Billy Ocasio sign in her window.
I come and They drag me in being a precinct captain.
It's kind of hard to visit ten blocks.
They want to see you twice a month.
And I put I staple my card to it.
And I tell them If you need anything, call me.
That's the best way to do things.
This way And what we're implementing now is We're creating block club presidents For each block.
So then the precinct captain Doesn't, you know So each block gets the attention That it deserves.
By a block club President for each block.
And that's what I'm trying to implement.
We're implementing some of these lower income Kids to We, yeah I think so.
I've been having to get her out For many elections now.
But this is the way you get out to vote, right? You gotta knock on the doors And bring them.
He said he'll take me over later.
I'll come back and get him later.
Okay? I want to put you on TV.
I don't want to break the thing.
The turnouts aren't As good as we'd like them to be.
That's why I'm here to get you.
Please? Wait till I put on my blasted shoes.
And we'll have a nice chat On the way to the polling place.
Go ahead and I'll be right there.
No I'll be waiting for you right here.
How's that? Then I have very little power To go to the Alderman's office And say I have 80 % turnout These people and these services Our taxes are going up So then we have to provide services.
And one way to do that One way to do that Is to bring out the vote.
And that's my goal Since I bought a house on the next block Six years ago.
I want a clean And safe neighborhood For my kids to grow up in.
And that's why I got involved in politics.
And you know To beautify the neighborhood.
We just got new sidewalks here this This past year.
The sidewalks were so bad you couldn't get a wheelchair down them.
With hard work and determination You get What is it called? A petition.
And you just keep fighting and fighting Until The politicians See what your needs are in the community.
This summer we're not going to tolerate Mechanical work on the street.
It's against the city ordinance.
Which is probably a nation wide epidemic.
Well since I became a priest Five years ago.
The neighborhood wasn't as beautified As it is today.
With our present administration Billy Ocasio, Luis Gutierrez Who is our congressman.
And Miguel Devalle State Senator and a few state representatives.
I said for What you have to do is fight for what's yours.
When your taxes go up they have to provide services.
You lie in your face saying you don't love nobody.
I know what you do and I know what you don't do.
Whenever you need me you can call me.
Well I'll give you another one right here.
Why? Because a lot of people say that they don't know They're a preaching captain.
Well this way they can't say they don't have my number.
And the best way to do that Is on election day.
This is the first time I've ever had it.
That step down there needs fixing.
That step needs fixing huh? Why are you got that thing aimed at me? You stop it.
This step? You need to get it fixed? I can get you the wood.
You want my labor too right? Nah I can do it.
Politically connected is what they call it.
You better not get me out here in trouble.
For what? See? That's our main candidate.
So you have to come and get your roommate later? Yeah.
That's how we get new sidewalks.
When I need somebody, I need somebody.
You see? That's how my neighbors walk off and leave me.
This is going to be a great documentary for all the elected officials here in the city of Chicago.
And they telling me I'm old enough to vote.
Why you got all them polling cards in your hands? You only need one.
All those other ones are from the 35th ward.
What are you doing out here? What you need to do, you can't let them see this in there.
Okay? You can't bring political literature in the polling place.
My memory is absolutely no good.
So what you have to do is put it in your pocket and then open it up when you get to the polling place.
And this way we'll go over here to our polling place.
How are you? Yeah this is another one of our block club presidents here.
Alright you better watch how you talk.
Is there a line already? Is this the line already? Oh my goodness.
The dedication from the precinct captain brings a line of voters out.
A good dedicated precinct captain could form a line in a polling place.
It's against the city, the voting regulations to bring them into the polling booth.
I would have to sign an affidavit.
So what we won't do is go with her.
The judges will assist her in any way she needs possible.
Do you have any city problems whatsoever? You need city help.
That's why I didn't say nothing to you.
The first one's available for you.
I need a country of hand of Democrats please.
The one time we were down at the bar.
Yeah, the one time we were down at the bar.
But that was only at one time.
You have to figure that's the least.
Any available one on the left there? 259.
Can I have your sign in there please? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I got to check that signature please.
You want to check the signature? What was the address on the left side? 1859, California, Strauch.
Your name sir? Forrest, I guess.
She just went to the Alzheimer's or something.
Isn't she way up in age? She's close to 90.
And remember my brother -in -law that lived in Cornwall, Western, in Monck? Yesterday was his birthday.
And now my sister -in -law has moved him out and I got a whole bunch of his junk up in my house.
But he's in a nursing home too.
You know Gramps down 25, 14? He turned 97.
Look at that big Chicago sun on us.
Right? 26 and 11? Whoa! I need to know Democrat, Republican, Terrell of Washington, and I'm partisan? How do you do this? You got it slid in? I got that over the red.
Because I can't look in there enough.
The arrow? Slide it down in there.
Now, it's going to be Mayor, City Controller, and Treasurer.
In blocks of three, five, three, three.
Come all the way across to where you see the arrow pointing to the hole.