By CHAZ PLAGER
Four years have come and gone, and it’s that time again— time for the presidential primary for the 2024 election. Now if you know me. You know I’m a smart guy, with a lot of opinions. I have plenty of ideas about this election and the primary. But unfortunately, I cannot share them. Why? Because I’m working as a student election clerk, for the 2024 California Primary.
A student election clerk is a lot like a regular election clerk, but with some upsides and downsides.
Student clerks get to leave early and receive community service hours for school but are paid significantly less ($575 for regular election clerks, $380 for student clerks).
Students apply through their schools. I applied through Palisades Charter High School, while regular election clerks simply apply through the Vote4LA website. Once a prospective clerk is chosen and assigned a location to work at, they have to finish a 10-hour online training course, as well as attend a three-hour in-person training course.
Once the courses are completed, clerks just need to show up for their assigned hours and location. I was assigned to Malibu High School.
For this election, student clerks need only work three days. Our hours are: March 2 and March 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and election day, March 5, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
As a student clerk, I thankfully am able to leave early, but getting up on Tuesday at 5:30 a.m. will not be exactly fun. Part of my job has been putting up notices and signs and then checking voters in.
However, I don’t mind. It’s a great honor to be able to give back to my state and country by assisting in the democratic process and wish more citizens would do the same.
One of my fellow clerks, Aya, is actually not an American citizen— she’s Japanese. “I know that I can’t vote here,” she said. “But I really do like America, and I enjoy giving back to the country that made up half of my life, even if it’s just a little.”
As an election worker, it goes against policy to use my position to advertise a particular political party.
However, I am not alone in saying that this election is one of the most important ones of this decade. It is vital that each and every person get out there and vote, lest we risk losing our country to those who would undermine it.
The Palisades has several vote centers: the Palisades Library, Palisades Presbyterian Church, Rustic Canyon Rec Center and Paul Revere Middle School. And if you don’t want to go out, there’s always your Vote by Mail Ballot.
America was founded on “one person, one vote.” Don’t let yours go to waste.
On March 2, only three people came in person to vote. March 3 saw eight voters.
CBS News reported on February 27 that a “Historically Low Voter Turnout Projected for California’s 2024 Primary Election.” I’m hoping that residents prove them wrong on March 5.
VOTE!! It is our given right/ freedom to say what/who we wish to govern us. VOTE!