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night, in my election anxiety, I just in your clicked a link and signed up.” Dahlstrom didn’t land a coveted poll assignment, but said, “I was really looking forward to seeing voting in action in a concrete way. I will apply again in the future. I’ve November-December 2020 got the bug.” Alameda attorney Todd Boley, one of the 300 lawyers CADEM is deploying as poll watchers in CA counties with particularly tight races, caught the bug years ago, serving as a poll watcher in Florida in 2004; but he, too, felt in Nature a particular need to serve this Regional year. “This election is unlike any on rmati other,” he said. “There’s a lot of r Info g , pin site fo Web gs - Cam . r u in kO ing concern [about election fairness], 20 Chec n Reopen and Fish MB ER 20 o ER – DECE ng , NOVE MB Boati with litigation in the Supreme Court that’s really troubling, and kidnapping plots [such as the one targeting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer].” n matio Foley believes poll watching n f or for I ping , e it s b m can and should be a nonr We ings - Ca g. k Ou in Chec n Reopen and Fish confrontational and non-partisan BER – DEC EM BER 2020 , o g oatin N OV EM B act; and that it can make a real difference to election integrity. “Our focus as poll watchers is on making certain that people are not prevented from casting their vote, and getting all ballots counted,” he said. “If we do that, our concerns are going to be taken care of.” While Foley and Berkey each page 10 have some anxiety about this • Ladybugs, n, page 12 in si d e eather Statio Pro, page 3 • Make a W • Be a Pup election, they remain cautiously 4 ge s, page 15 alk Gap, pa e W tur er int Na •W page 16 • Bridging the n, page 7 d Habitats, optimistic that all will go well. gration Seaso • Building Bir • Salmon Mi ot , page 9 ro ap So e: tiv “I’m hoping any problems are just • Notable Na Offers eline Park New Shor . See page 3. r Bay Views administrative,” Foley said. Spectacula Like Dahlstrom, who says her primary motivation for wanting to work the polls this year was “to take positive action to make sure this election is fair,” Foley and Berkey agree that inherent risks are less important to them than protecting election fairness. Berkey’s son, a paramedic who worries about her safety, told her, “You’re really putting yourself out there in terms of risk,” Berkey said. “But I said, ‘I Plus many more fun activities for kids and families! page 10 have to do this. I have to help make • Ladybugs, 12 id e s in Station, page sure this election is safe.’ This year e a Weather page 3 ak o, M Pr • p Pu • Be a page 4 is absolutely critical to our election alks, page 15 ature Gap, • Winter W dging the N ri B page 16 • 7 ge integrity.” In other words, it’s ason, pa ird Habitats, • Building B Migration Se on lm Sa • 9 ge unprecedented. l Soaproot , pa
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Although Berkey spent her career in government and government relations, starting as a Nixon-administration appointee in the early 1970s, this was her first stint as an election worker. “When you have a candidate, and in this case an entire administration, instilling fear in people about whether or not the election process will be legitimate, that is very concerning,” Berkey said. Election officials across the country realized early in the pandemic that the seniors and retirees who long comprised the majority of poll workers might sit out this election to safeguard their health. Younger people, considered to be at lower risk of complications from Covid-19, stepped up to serve. That didn’t happen by accident. State and county agencies collaborated this year to increase their recruiting efficacy by replacing fragmented county-by-county pollworker recruitment and sign-up systems with a statewide messaging campaign and application portal. In addition, said Sam Mahood, press secretary to California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, “our office partnered with the group Power the Polls, to provide information they collected from prospective poll workers to county elections officials.” According to CNN, Power the Polls is a non-partisan poll-worker recruitment initiative that is itself powered by high-profile companies including Comedy Central, Levi Strauss & Co., Patagonia, MTV, Uber and others. The group’s socialmedia-centric approach proved effective at attracting younger prospective poll workers. “I started seeing encouraging messages about becoming a poll worker in my Twitter feed in early August,” said Oakland resident Christa Dahlstrom, a content strategy consultant who first left the political-action sidelines in the 2018 midterms. “They were welcoming and eye-catching, and within days they were being retweeted by so many celebrities that I like. So one
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