“I spent most of the fall feeling frustrated, knowing that I had the privilege of voting, but not knowing how much of an impact I would actually make. There’s something so powerless about the election. Your vote counts, there’s no doubt about it. But I still needed to do more,” Senior staff writer Melissa Cooney writes of her decision to sign up to be a poll worker. After signing up and receiving training, she received a call on Election Day telling her that at Precinct 203 — where over 1,000 votes were cast in total — both a judge and an election assistant had not showed up. Cooney was assigned to the ballot table where she provided voters with an “Authorization to Vote” form, counted how many voters had received ballots, and was responsible for “spoiling,” or discarding, any ballots that needed to be discarded.Photo Melisa Cooney/Old Gold & Black.Click the link in our bio to read more about her unique experience on Election Day.