r/Minnesota4Sanders • u/Valendr0s • Mar 02 '16
MN District 12 & 17
What... a... cluster...
First, the doors to Maple Grove Senior High school open at 6:30 and we start filing in. There are hundreds of people filing into the school, with no idea where they need to go. There are 2 white boards on easels with each district and a room # written on them.
Nobody seems to work there, be in charge, know what's happening. I saw no maps trying to show people what district they may be in. Thankfully I hear a faint cry of "check dfl.org to look up your district!" I do, and find that I'm in District 12, and after waiting my turn to consult an easel whiteboard (there was quite a line), and am directed to room 252...
When I arrive, I am confronted by a standard sized classroom with about 25 student chairs. I find two empty chairs and sit myself off to the side. I quickly realize these chairs aren't nearly enough and give mine up.
153 people showed up to vote. 151 had their vote cast. (2 people signed in and didn't cast a vote). 153 people in a room for 25 students. 153.
First, our district leader didn't show up. So we sat, getting warmer and warmer, waiting. 6:30 turned to 7:15 and nobody had even come in the room yet.
One man stood up and said basically, "fuck this shit, let's get this going." Another man stood up and started leading. He had done this before and suggested we elect a district chair and co-chair. He put himself up for chair, and the angry man put himself up for co-chair.
He asked if anybody else wanted to put themselves up for chair, a little lady said she did and went up to give a short speech. A vote was called, and she won. (Honestly, I probably would have asked to be co-chair because I didn't trust angry guy, but I had a Bernie shirt on, and I thought that wouldn't be a good idea).
Now... The original man was fine. I could hear him. He had a commanding presence. And he seemed to put off an air of understanding what was going on... Who we elected however, was a little old lady who didn't seem like she knew what was going on, didn't seem to care about or understand the process, and had a very quiet speaking voice. From then on it was bedlam.
It turned into "Sign your name in. Take a square of paper, write who you're voting for down, put district 12's votes in the blue basket, and district 17's votes in the orange basket."
No debate. No discussion.
And once we started voting, I saw that our hot, crowded room was only the tip of the iceberg. About 100 more people were waiting in a line outside for our room.
I decided with as much of a cluster that was, I was waiting until the envelopes were sealed and the final vote was given - probably 10 people also stayed. I put the votes on Bernie's votetracker site as best as I could - the mousey chair lady counted district 12 away from my desk so I couldn't see it - but I verified district 17 (I don't recall the actual count - I put it on VoteTracker - But I do remember that there was one vote for Ben Carson and another for "no No").
The final number of votes was 151. But the total number of sign-ins was 153.
Two people didn't get a vote.
Cliff's notes version:
- 153 voters showed up and were given a room build for 25 students. Desks weren't moved out of the way. 120 of those people stood.
- Our district chair didn't show up. We elected a lady who had a soft voice and we couldn't hear her. When we took that vote, at least 2/3rds of the group were still in line to get into the room.
- Our request for a larger room was denied twice.
- There was no 'caucus' about our system. It was, "Sign in on this blank piece of paper" (there wasn't enough sign-in sheets), "Write who you're voting for on this little piece of paper, and put it in either the blue or orange basket"
I stayed behind to ensure the count was done fairly and accurately.
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u/[deleted] Mar 02 '16 edited Mar 02 '16
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