Crossing paths.
There are two reasons that I can think of for spending election day at a polling station instead of enjoying what would otherwise be a day off: economics and politics, though upon closer examination neither of these seem particularly convincing. Though the pay for a day's work at a polling station is a respectable sum, most of the people performing this function do so as representativesof a political party, and (as is true in my case, though I don't know about that of the others with whom I worked) the pay goes to the party. But although the economic reason is almost non-existent, the political motivation seems even less convincing - personing a voting station is a totally a-political job that lacks any opportunity to in any way influence anybody's voting decision. Not only did I not get rich from these elections, I didn't even try to change anybody's mind.
On the other hand, ideologically motivated people tend to make interesting conversation partners, and thus it's a fair guess that the day is going to be filled with lots of talking. As was this particular election. One of my co-workers was a representative of an ultra-orthodox party who in his "civilian" life is also in education, and we found that we had a great deal in common - more than enough not only to fill the day with enjoyable conversation but even to continue via e-mail afterwards. Among the many things we talked about was election propaganda, and I learned from him that numerous parties put out CDs of their television commmercials. I expressed an interest in these, and after the elections we met and he gave me copies of a few of these.
Go to: Wake me if anybody shows up, or
Go to: Digital Democracy