Neraly Castillo and Fernanda Font provided an invaluable service to voters on Election Day who could speak only Spanish – even outside the precinct where they were serving as poll workers.
As the two Lebanon High School seniors were speaking to LebTown on Election Day in front of the Lebanon 5th Ward West precinct at St. Mark’s UCC in the 400 block of North 8th Street, Lebanon, a woman asked in Spanish if this was a polling precinct.
After telling her “si´,” both told LebTown they were happy to be serving a need within the Lebanon County Latino community.
“I just wanted to help out the community, and help my Spanish people, my Latinos, in case they needed help,” said Castillo.
“We have had to help a few people actually, since this is a high Spanish-speaking community, already,” said Font at about 9 a.m., two hours after precincts had opened to in-person voting.
Castillo said they had assisted voters signing in to vote, translating the few non-Spanish language words on the Spanish-language ballot for those voters and what she called “other little things.”
A few blocks away, 17-year-old Perla Chavez was working the precinct located at the Salvation Army in the 1000 block of Guilford Street, where she had already answered logistical questions from voters in the first two hours that polls were open.
“They figure out that I look Hispanic, so they ask me if I speak Spanish,” said Chavez. “I explain to them how to fill out their ballot, how to darken the bubbles completely and answer any questions they have. Their faces are full of relief once their questions are answered.”
This was the second election Chavez has worked at the polls, having also served during the primary in April.
“Since a young age, I was always told in school that elections are important because it is the one chance to make your voice heard,” she said. “Working here I get to see all kinds of different people. They come here to make their voice heard, and I think that is a good thing.”
Read More: Student poll workers at Lebanon County precincts experience elections on the job
Keith Rolon, a Lebanon School District employee, has collaborated with Lebanon County election officials to provide high school students for three consecutive election years at the county’s 15 city-based precincts. On Tuesday, he had 35 students at precincts for this year’s election, up by five from April’s primary election. (There were about 50 student poll workers across the Lebanon Valley on Tuesday.)
“There are several reasons why this has grown,” said Rolon. “It’s more popular through word of mouth. I had between 60 and 70 students reach out to me who wanted to work for this election.”
Rolon noted that bilingual students are given priority to work since the county wants to provide that service to voters whose only language is Spanish.
“For me, the Latino community is a big part of our community, I grew up in a Latino household myself,” he said. “My parents never voted and so I, as a young kid, advocated to them, ‘Hey, get registered to vote so you have a voice.’
“That’s the big reason why, so if you are not an English speaker and you come to the precinct, then you have someone who understands your language and can help you with any questions you have. I think that it is very important to promote voting across our community regardless of their language so that they can be able to vote and participate in the process.”
Read More: Democracy depends on poll workers, says Secretary of State at library event
At the county municipal building, Tatiana Rodriguez, a Lebanon resident, was hired several weeks ago by the elections office to serve as a biingual specialist.
She said she was unaware that county election officials were seeking to hire a bilingual individual to work out of that office during this election cycle.
“It was a surprise because when I met them I was going to vote early and I was already interested in volunteering,” said Rodriguez, who is in her third week as a temporary bilingual specialist, “and honestly, I have the credentials. “(Deputy elections director) Joy (Scarbrough) would really like to have me there on a full-time basis.”
Rodriguez said she has been working “behind the front counter” at voter registration and “behind the phone” when Spanish-language voters called with an enquiry, adding that she had assisted “many people” in the time leading up to and including Election Day.
Rodriguez said she enjoys working in public relations because she does pageants and is comfortable speaking in front of and to people in the community.
“I am a very public person when it comes to volunteering and speaking up in my community,” she said. “To be honest, I believe it is something that is needed. I didn’t see the turnout of young Lebanon Latino voters that I would have liked to have seen.”
When it came to assisting voters with their election questions, Rodriguez said they were grateful that she was working at the county’s election office.
“They were asking me my name and they were just saying that they were going to tell security or the people who work at the job site that they wanted me to stay there,” said Rodriguez. “It was always a compliment afterwards. They were really appreciative. It would always end with a ‘God bless you’ or ‘Thank you,’ which is a common saying that we say to each other. I feel it gave them a little more sense of comfort that there was someone (available) who spoke their language. They were really surprised but also happy then because it made them feel more comfortable.”
Any individual wishing to be a future poll worker – especially those who are bilingual – are encouraged to contact the Lebanon County election office since officials are constantly looking to hire employees to serve as poll workers, as expressed by elections director Sean Drasher.
Editor’s Note: This story features content that was first published in LebTown’s live blog on Election Day as well as new information.
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