作者：Christina Yin
( 高中十一年级学生）

2016年的美国总统竞选可以堪称是近年来最热血沸腾的一次选举。民主是在美国很火的一个词。它是一个理想，一个通道。美国之所以崇尚民主，是为了给所有百姓一个机会在社会上为自己争取利益。

众所周知，美国从始至今是一个移民国家。不论你的种族，背景，每一位公民都有权利在大选季为自己支持的候选人投票。



在10月19号晚上7点，近三十位华裔，男女老少，聚集到了都柏林市，为成为当地投票站的义工而参加双语培训。大家的共同目标就是在今年11月8日选举当天，在各投票站帮助选民顺利投票。



培训当晚，所有人就坐在一个教室里，聆听着两位培训者讲解一页接着一页的幻灯片。全部前来培训的人都是新手儿，所以很多人踊跃地提问。想必大家很迫不及待地期望着11月8日的来临吧！

两个小时飞快地过去了，经过两位培训者耐心地指导，所有人最终掌握了当一个好义工的要领。做义工看似小菜一碟，其实不然。义工们要暂时抛除自己政治己见，并全心全意地帮助当场的投票者走过投票所有步骤，从而维持会场从容的秩序和轻松的环境。

华裔们为什么要去当义工呢？首先，既然生活在一个民主社会，我们应当去了解它是如何运行的。其次，“华裔不喜欢参政”，“美国政府忽视华裔权利”这些话相信很多人都有所耳闻。与其自己闷在家里打抱不平，不如走出去做些实事。



前来培训的这二十多位华裔充当了一个好榜样。我很幸运地在高中时期赶上了四年一度的总统竞选。作为高中生，我们的视角是特别的。没有小孩子的幼稚，也没有社会的复杂。



希望更多的青少年能在未来多多参与社会实践，比如成为竞选处的义工。总有一天，我们要接手创造未来。

更要感谢举办培训班的大人们。我们的家长今天的打拼，无疑是为了让美国华裔拥有一个更明亮的前途。选举是一件至关重要地事情。如果你觉得一位杰出的人将会成为一个优秀的领导者，如果你认为他或她能说出你的声音，去投票吧。



英文作者：Ethan Chang
（高中十年级学生）

What I learned from the being a poll worker
On 19 October 2016, my friend Christina and I received a opportunity for becoming a poll worker.

This is a rare opportunity for us because this opportunity required the worker to be bilingual, and also because of the fact president election only happen in one day in 4 or 8 years. We decided to spend our time on how to become a great poll worker rather than just doing homework which we do everyday.



At the lesson of how to become a poll worker, I learned so much about the voting system of president election. Before I came to the class, I thought voting for presidents is like voting for who will be the star student back in our elementary school. Voting system for president election required series of complicated of process for the voter and for the clerks, but I know these processes are important for maintaining the fairness of votes.
In the process of voting, the voter can either choose to vote by mail or poll. But both way of voting have to be early registered and be done on the 8 November 2016 or the vote won’t be counted.

If the voters vote though mail they will have to deliberate the mail into the blue bag next to the poll station. If the voters vote through poll they will have to go into the poll station to receive a ballot to fill out, then turn in the ballet. In the process for voting through poll, our role as poll worker come into place where we will need to check the voter’s name and address, then let the voter to sign and fill out the ballet.

It is our responsibility to provide help for the voters if they faced an issue. When this issue is a language problem, our ability of speaking both English and Chinese has a great chance of helping the voters. It is also our responsibility to maintain the fairness and be honest by simply not interfering others’ opinion and correctly count the vote.

附培训课活动照片：
https://goo.gl/photos/ickyCPGZ8agrYr568

附培训课录像：

谢谢摄影师: Ming Luo
谢谢摄像：Andy Li

From APAPA TVC president Andy Li ：10/19/16 举办了poll station worker volunteer training, 20 余人参加了培训，十多人当场注册成为poll worker volunteer, 将于11/08 在 poll station 做义工。谢谢所有参与者！

附培训班登记表：
http://www.chineseamerican.org/topic/show/400?from=groupmessage&isappinstalled=0