* *** 2010_ELECTION_MANUAL_2010-04-11 TXT - 11 Apr 2010 18:01:57 - JKNAUTH Has any progress been made with the NC State BOE to address the points I listed in http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/BOE_suggestions_2009-04-25.txt? Those were a summary of comments I had made in previous years which I had been told could be handled only at the NC State BOE level. I had documented them to the Wake County BOE to be forwarded to the State BOE. I have seen only part of the 2010 election material so far. However I have noticed that at least one of the State problems still exists. Unfortunately that has led to one of the most significant errors in the 2010 Election Manual -- the confusion about the DEM/REP/UNA checkboxes on the ATV form. If Ballot Table officials follow the manual, they are going to mess up some ATVs. Comments/Questions on March 2010 Version of 2010 Election Manual ------------------ -- ----- ---- ------- -- ---- -------- ------ Page 17: This shows the ATV form which contains the poor wording I have pointed out many times. It currently says If primary, check one: [] DEM [] REP [] UNA Instead it should say (where "NP" means "non-partisan") If primary AND a UNA voter, check the requested ballot type: [] DEM [] REP [] NP So NOTHING should ever be checked for a registered Democrat or Republican. In contrast, EXACTLY ONE of the three boxes must be checked for an Unaffiliated voter. My bet is that because of the way the form and manual are worded, the marking of the field will be pretty random. I hope nothing depends on it too much. What is it used for? Page 24: Item 2 on this page says the Ballot Table official must do this: "In Primary elections ONLY, check the box of the party affiliation *listed on the label*." The Registration Table official or Help Table official should already have done the box checking, so this must be a backup; but if the Ballot Table official ever does have to do the box checking, it will be done incorrectly if the manual is followed. The error is saying that the box checked should be what is listed on the label. That's clearly wrong. The label lists the voter's party affiliation (DEM, REP, or UNA), not the ballot type desired by a UNA voter (DEM, REP, or NP). The box checked should be for the ballot type requested: DEM, REP, or UNA (which really should say "NP", not "UNA"). That box checking should be done only for a UNA voter, not for any other voter. Right? If that is not right, many other parts of the manual are wrong. Who knows the right answer? Page 25: Under "First official", "marked the box of the voter's party" is ambiguous at best. See above about what box should be checked and when. The wording should be fixed. Page xx: Elsewhere in the manual (pages 19, 23, 29, 30, 31, 34, 35, and 43) the words are along the lines of "For unaffiliated voters in Primary elections only, mark the box of the party the voter chooses to vote in Section A." That seems more consistent with what I understand is supposed to be done, although I would prefer wording like the following. (For now you would have to use "UNA" instead of "NP" in this text, until they finally fix the ATV as noted in my Page 17 comment.) "Only in Primary elections and only for unaffiliated voters, mark the box for the ballot type requested by the voter: DEM, REP, or NP." Page 21: Another possibility for sending someone to the Help Table: The voter is in the book, but the label is missing, e.g., the label was mistakenly given to another voter. Maybe there should be an explicit catchall: Any Other Discrepancy -- Send voter to the Help Table. This could also include "Voter Refuses To Sign", which seems to have been dropped. Page 25: Do you recommend that the ballots be counted after a package is opened, or just assume exactly 100 are in the package? As noted in past years' comments, there have been problems in this area. We know many packages did not have exactly 100 ballots. Is the current printer more reliable? Page 28: Some notes for the flowchart might help people who refer just to the chart and might forget some of the details. * There are four places (after each "circle it") where special special action is required for a primary election. * For the provisional ballot block in the lower left - Write "PROVISIONAL" on the ATV - Paperclip any supporting material to the envelope Page 43: For Curbside Voting Procedures step 5, add "Initial Section A if everything appears correct." Possibly this initialing should be delayed until after the voter has verified the label information and signed Section A, i.e., step 8. However doing it here matches more closely the normal flow in which the initials denote authorization for the Ballot Table official to give out a ballot. Page 43: For Curbside Voting Procedures step 6, say who enters the ballot style on the ATV. I assume the Ballot Table official will do this, although the official should not number or spindle the ATV until step 11. Page 43: For Curbside Voting Procedures step 10, I still think the Judge should have the the Ballot Table official check, number, and spindle the ATV before the ballot is inserted into the scanner. That gets the checking done before it is too late and is also consistent with the idea that the precinct official is following the same procedural path as the voter would if the voter had been able to vote normally. For example, make sure the form has been properly signed, initialed, and had the ballot style filled in. Page 43: For Curbside Voting Procedures step 11, insert "numbered and" before "placed". FYI, here is the way I think curbside voting should work: http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/curbside-2010.htm. Page 68: Under M100 Ballot Scanner section: Add as last step, "Ensure all ballot box doors are closed and locked for shipping. Page 97: The "Donavan" error has still not been corrected. A couple of years ago I had pointed out that you incorrectly added "Donavan" to my examples (See Page H-9 comment http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/PW_manual_H_2009-09-19.txt for two possible ways to correct this.) Several times I was told this had been fixed, but the error is still there. I assume the manual didn't say anything about the barcode reader because this equipment was added late. Jeff Knauth, precinct 01-43