On Tuesday, March 20, Illinois residents voted in the gubernatorial primary election, and Parker students came out both as election judges and first–time voters.

All Illinois residents who will be 18 years of age before the General Election on November 6, 2018 were permitted to vote in the primary, allowing all of the senior class and many 17-year-old juniors to take part. Juniors and seniors were both invited to act as election judges for the day, an opportunity that Upper School History teacher Andrew Bigelow informed students of in an email.

“I was really excited about it because I can’t vote yet,” junior Zoe Laris-Djokovic said, “so I thought I would learn a bit about the democratic process and get involved.”  Laris-Djokovic additionally noted that the $140 monetary incentive played a role in her interest.

Over 30 Parker students were accepted to serve as judges, placing them among the ranks of over one thousand other students across the city and thousands more adults. Once accepted, students were encouraged to attend a training session to better prepare them for election day. The training further rewarded participants with an additional $50 stipend.

Despite an enthusiasm surrounding the election itself, Laris-Djokovic was not excited about the training. “The training was far too long, unhelpful, and drawn-out,” she said. “I don’t think it helped me at all on election day.  I ended up just following the manual the whole time.”

On election day, students were asked to meet their fellow judges at precincts around the city at 5:00 a.m., an hour before the polls opened. Judges were mandated to remain at their posts through clean-up and vote-reporting following the 7:00 p.m. closing time, usually an additional two hours. Siblings Dylan and Grace Andrews, a junior and a senior, respectively, remained at their precinct until 9:00 p.m. Junior Jack Klauber stayed until 8:45 p.m.

“Overall it was fun, but really different than I expected,” Laris-Djokovic said. “I thought voting was this official, strict process, but it turned out to be way too chill and not really organized. It was weird to see how careless some of the judges were with ballots.”

Students who were not election judges also seized the opportunity to participate in their democracy. First-time voters found the experience both fun and exciting. “I went on a Sunday,” senior Martha Wedner said. “I had just woken up, I was exhausted, I went in pajamas.  I registered in the suburbs, so I was actually in a different district than the majority of Parker students. My mom had given me this little cheat sheet beforehand for the less known positions–all those judges, the metropolitan water thing. But overall, it was a great experience. Ten out of ten would recommend.”

Senior Maya Plotnick also looked back fondly on her experience. “I went with my mom–she was very, very excited–to our local library because they have early voting there,” Plotnick. “You get this card that you put into a computer, but I had to be shown how to work the computer because I’ve never voted before. It was a little embarrassing, but it was fine.”

Plotnick thought the act of voting was an important one. “I know my mom really wanted to vote with me, specifically because it was my first time,” Plotnick said. “But also with Ben Wolf visiting and campaigning, and just the current political climate in general played a part in my wanting to vote.”

Both Plotnick and Wedner agree they could have been more prepared going into voting. “I wouldn’t say I did in-depth research, but I knew the candidates for governor, so I knew who I wanted to vote for there,” Plotnick said. “But as the positions get smaller, I didn’t know as well. I don’t think it’s a good thing, but I think a lot of people are like that.”

Wedner, aided by her mother’s cheat sheet, recognized her parents’ impact on her voting. “Unfortunately we are so influenced by our parents, so I think a lot of the research I did came from what my mom and dad were talking about at the dinner table,” Wedner said. “That’s kind of unfortunate.”