Election Day Problems?

[progressnerd.livejournal.com]

I figure you might enjoy a thread for your Election Day problems and oddities. I'll start with one of mine: Why exactly are poll workers instructing voters to remove their ballots entirely from the privacy sleeves before feeding them into the optical scan machines? The point of the privacy sleeve is to ensure your vote isn't bought or coerced, so removing it where it's in plain view entirely defeats the purpose. If you're going to ask us to remove it, might as well not give us one at all. I disobeyed the instruction and fed in my ballot directly from the sleeve, without a hitch as usual. I've tried calling the Elections Department to ask about this bizarre practice, but not surprisingly, I just get a busy signal.

Any problems you found?

Comments

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

At my polling station, people were specifically requested NOT to remove it entirely, and to just slide a few inches out immediately before entering it into the machine.

[progressnerd.livejournal.com]

Interesting, I complained to the poll worker, and he said those were the orders he got from City Hall, and I should take it up with them. I voted at the DPW, where were you?

[mrboboto.livejournal.com]

Some of the machines are old and don't do a very good job of pulling the ballot out of the sleeve. At my polling place they weren't telling people to do either, but a lot of people were just pulling the ballot out of the sleeve because they were frustrated with the machine.

[daft.livejournal.com]

Ditto this. I voted at the Argenziano School. The person sitting at the ballot machine wasn't telling people to do anything specifically unless there was a problem. Some people just opted to take theirs out of the sleeve after watching it jam on a few others a couple times.

[ron_newman]

At Dilboy VFW, the machine could not extract my ballot from the privacy sleeve until I pulled it out part way.

[sapphira-altair.livejournal.com]

Same experience at Dilboy VFW.

[ron_newman]

Be glad you aren't in Cambridge.

[sundaisy-summer.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah I was surprised to see my polling station on the news an hour after I voted without any hitches. A few people weren't on the regular list when I was there, but they seemed to have it under control and no one was turned away.

[coorr.livejournal.com]

For the first time ever I did not receive a privacy sleeve when voting. I don't think anyone else at my location had one. I didn't bother to ask about it because I was in a hurry and I don't really care if people see who I vote for, but I did think it was unusual.

I'm in Medford.

[etana.livejournal.com]

I didn't get one either - Davis Square ladder 7 - because I was teh blinds. They gave me a large print instruction card (fat lot of good - and they didn't ask me first) but no privacy envelope. Also they wouldn't um..y'know....talk to me. They just gestured and grabbed stuff.
I was all "wah?" but at least the automark worked - I have low expectations.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

The folks at the Teele Square fire house were awfully insistent I use my privacy sleeve, despite my apathy towards people knowing who I voted for.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I voted at the Teele Sq fire dept. and the woman told me to take the ballot completely out of the privacy sleeve before I fed it into the machine. I did it face down, so she probably thinks I'm a pro-dog pot head.

[dcltdw]

Caveat: I vote in Arlington.

The first year I voted in Arlington, that happened to me. Worse, the poll worker examined both sides of the ballot (I'm guessing to make sure I hadn't missed any questions). I was shocked.

The next year, the poll worker asked and reached for my ballot, I said "mm hmm", held onto it, and fed it in myself. I got a glare; I returned a smile, a "thanks", and the sleeve, and that was that.

I think I've voted once or twice since, and now the poll workers just sit there as you feed it in.

My guess is that poll workers are not paid much, and don't receive much training. The first year, I was quite outraged, but now I'm just prepared to politely insist on privacy. I figure having an attitude of "hey, we all want this to work out smoothly, woot!" goes a long way towards smoothing over any ruffled feathers, be it mine or the poll workers'.

[daft.livejournal.com]

The hell? What if you'd chosen the abstain on something?

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

That was definitely not the case at Ciampa Manor. We were asked to slide them out a tiny bit to help with the feed, but not enough to really expose anything.

[unferth.livejournal.com]

It was for me at Ciampa around noon - the poll worker took my ballot from me, then took my ballot entirely out of the sleeve to feed it into the machine.

Not cool, but I didn't feel like making a big scene about it.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

In mine, the guy took the ballot from me, took it out of the folder and fed it in himself.

I know he wasn't supposed to do that, but it happened so fast, and I just didn't care enough...

[klaus-kinetic.livejournal.com]

I'm about to leave work and head to The Dante Club on Craigie Street. Does anyone have an idea how it is over there?

[ellf.livejournal.com]

Had to remove my ballot from the privacy sleeve - voted at Somerville High School. They didn't even explain why - just told me to "take it out and put it in the machine at an angle."

[ron_newman]

There was no pen in the voting booth. I had to return to the pollworkers' table and get one. They told me that people keep walking off with them. Given that the pens have no caps, I don't see how that's happening.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

It's really funny that people do this. They are permanent and really messy markers, but people really do run off with them without the caps on!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Not my problem, so much, but I helped direct someone to the polling place at the Dante Club, off Craigie St. She knew she needed to go there, but couldn't find it. Not surprising: it's set back from the street, in a big parking lot, and it looks like little more than a shack (I used to vote there). I don't know if she didn't walk down Craigie far enough the first time, or if there were no signs up, or what, but I recall being a little uncertain about whether it was the right location when I went to vote there years ago myself (see: shacklike).

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I should add: I voted at the Dillboy, which is where the Dante Club voter showed up to ask the crowd for help.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

It is because when it stays in the sleeve, it tends to get stuck and then it jams the machine. We had this happen repeatedly at our polling station. Please don't call the election commission today because they are overrun with other issues such as people thinking they are registered when they are not (apparently some people who were taking names in Davis Square to register them just didn't bother handing in the registration forms -- awesome!). But please do call them later this week, because I agree it is a big issue and I feel very strongly about privacy.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

I think that it would be better for the poll worker to explain that it's because of a mechanical flaw when that happens, rather than just saying "Those are my orders" though.

And I do hope these things are worked out as we go forward. I love my paper ballot!

" Thickness Problems"

[melodiousjoy.livejournal.com]

I voted at West Somerville Neighborhood School. I heard a poll worker explaining to a voter that they were having"thickness problems" with the ballots and that it might be easier if she removed it from the sleeve before trying to insert it. I watched voter after voter struggling, trying to feed their ballots. The poll worker said she was going to call a technician. When it was my turn to feed my ballot, a new person was with the machine. He just took my ballot from me and fed it into the machine with no problem. I could care less if he saw my ballot but I thought the whole thing was odd.

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

No problems in Medford, except the corn bread I got at the bake sale was a little baking soda-heavy.

[hahathor.livejournal.com]

Damn! The terrorists have won!

As a final note.....

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

Please be kind to the people working at the elections today. We work from 6 am to 10 pm with limited to no breaks (I was lucky to get an hour this afternoon) dealing with all sorts of frustrating issues. It is our goal to get you to vote and we will do everything in our power to make that possible. And remember if you are in line tonight at 8pm when the polls close we will stay open to ensure that you have an opportunity to vote.

Good luck voters (and be sure to smile at the cute, but tired red head at the DPW ;) )

Re: As a final note.....

[melodiousjoy.livejournal.com]

Thank you for what you are doing and I hope that voters are indeed being kind to all of you. People at my polling place didn't seem to really care about the minor annoyances or the long line. Everyone seemed excited and hopeful!

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I vote at Chiampa Manor. The worker took it from me and fed it in himself. It's been this way as long as I've been voting there. It's never really bothered me.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

I've never had that happen to me at Ciampa Manor. Usually I pull the ballot out of the sleeve about an inch, and then the worker puts his index finger in the little window of the sleeve and pushes the ballot out of the sleeve into the machine. (I always forget the pushing-with-the-index-finger-to-get-the-ballot-out-of-the-sleeve part.) But I've always had the same man take my ballot every time I've voted there, and he always does it the same way.

Maybe you vote at a different time, and get a different worker?

[roosto.livejournal.com]

I guess it's a good thing Mrs. Palin doesn't live in Somerville: http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/11/sarah_talks_to_the_press_after.asp

[derekp.livejournal.com]

I vote at the Senior Center (I think that's what it is) over on Highland, just before Teele. I waited in line for 40 minutes or so and when I got to within 5 minutes of having a ballot in my hands I noticed a staffer/volunteer was asking folks if they wanted to check their registration status. It struck me that perhaps she should be doing that outside, as everyone in line had been waiting 30 minutes to get to that point.

I watched as she turned away two people who were not on the list. I understand it's on voters to make sure they are in the right place, but it seemed unnecessarily cruel to have someone checking your status, but placing them 30 minutes into the line.

Also, those turned away were not informed of their rights to cast a provisional ballot if they felt it was a mistake. Neither of the people refused raised a stink and perhaps provisional ballots would have been explained if they had. I couldn't help but think those two people were not going to vote today, though. Shame.

[ron_newman]

Highland Ave. doesn't go near Teele Square. Do you mean 167 Holland St?

At the Dilboy VFW, the pollworker was standing next to the back of the hour-long line with a voter list. Here's my full report.

If the voters were at the wrong polling place, I hope she told them where to go. Do you know if she did?

Pictures from Ciampa Manor

[jbarciauskas.livejournal.com]

The wait in the morning at Ciampa Manor was unbelievably long, and when we got inside, there were plenty of open booths. They just weren't moving people in quickly enough. I took some pictures from the line: http://www.flickr.com/photos/fluxt/sets/72157608651445122/

Re: Pictures from Ciampa Manor

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Agreed. They could have been more proactive there about pointing out open booths.

[cfox.livejournal.com]

At West Somerville Community School (7/3), the machine was being a tad balky, and the worker helping feed ballots would flinch dramatically each time the machine started to pull a ballot in. It was amusing to watch.

(I don't count it as a problem, though; it wasn't the bottleneck, and the worker seemed to still have all her fingers.)

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

what is a privacy sleeve? i've never gotten one of those at any election i've voted in in Cambridge in 8 years. strange.

[tfarrell.livejournal.com]

I voted at the Dante Club on Craigie street. A friendly elderly lady who was operating the machine suggested politely that I could remove my ballot from the sleeve so I could insert it more easily. I explained that I didn't want to do that because it was for my privacy. She explained that I could just turn the ballot over, to which I replied that I didn't want to do that because it had votes on the back too. She seemed surprised to realize that she hadn't thought out the implications of what she was recommending. All of this took place as I slid the ballot out a couple inches and inserted it into the machine successfully, so there was no actual problem.

I went to the flu shot clinic at somerville high school after voting, and on my way out I ran into a friend who tells me she has been working part time at the elections department. She spoke glowingly about their dedication to ensuring that citizens can vote, ensuring that there is a paper ballot so everything can be counted even if all the machines were to fail, and trying to make the whole procedure run smoothly. Under the circumstances, I'm more than willing to believe that this thing about removing ballots from the sleeve was intended innocently to make things go more easily for us, the voters, and so far it doesn't look like anyone was *made* to remove it from the sleeve.

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

Apparently, some of the machines have problems with jamming if any part of the sleeve is inserted. It would probably be more helpful if the poll workers explained this clearly when this is the case. Also, better sleeves would be a plus (in the absence of better machines, which would cost more).

Don't just sit there....

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

If you have time to complain to an online community about how elections are being run then you have time to come out and work the elections! Come and see how it is done, how improvements can be made and what the workers are doing behind the scenes. I take a personal day for every major election to work the polls and it is really easy to sign up. Contact the election department at http://www.somervillema.gov/Department.cfm?dept=ELECT

It would be good to get a set of "younger" folks there (under the age of 65) and you can be part of the solution rather than just complaining about problems.....

Re: Don't just sit there....

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Wait a second, if they have time to take a few minutes to report on election irregularities, they have time to take 14+ hours to work the polls? Speaking as someone who does, in fact, do that, I can say quite confidently that they do not compare. :)

I also believe that discussing voting irregularities in a public venue that is often seen by city officials (I'd bet they have or will see this thread, anyway) is one of the best ways most residents have of helping to fix the system.

That said, I definitely agree that more people, especially the young'uns, should get in on the action and work the polls!