* *** PW_MANUAL_2008-05-09 TXT - 9 May 2008 15:57:21 - JKNAUTH Below are postmortem comments for the 5/6/08 election. At the end are some additional comments I have collected for the 2008 Pollworker Manual since my 4/20/08 e-mail. All these files are anchored at our web page, http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/WakeBOE_TOC.htm. 1. Big picture comments: a) *PLEASE* start spending some money to publicize the need for voters to keep their voter registration address and name information up-to-date. We see much in the news, etc., asking people to register to vote, but never anything about the requirement for them to update the information after they have registered. b) There seems to be a problem with DMV voter registration. We had a number of people who said they had registered via the DMV, often months or even years ago. They thought they were registered, yet they did not appear in the database. We had them vote a provisional ballot. Note that we tried many % and alternate field tricks on the computer, but still could not find these voters. c) We gave many people the mail-in voter registration form -- so many I was afraid we would run out of those forms. They were used for both people who had never registered in Wake County before, as well as people who wanted to change their party affiliation. Of course we had to warn each type that this would have no affect on their current party affiliation, or lack of previous registration. However we encouraged them to submit the changes now so the registration would be in effect for future elections. We had to use a number of "disputed party" provisional ballots. Also, several people, now living in Wake County, thought they could vote here in this election because they had previously registered in another NC county. They also got registration forms to cancel their old registration and do a Wake County registration. d) In general, our voter flow worked pretty well thruout the day. We had a few peaks, mainly early in the day, and several times had some big lines at both the Registration Table and Help Table. However most of the day the flow was steady and manageable. We had very few times when no voters were present. e) The Unreported Move yellow form worked well. We used it many times. f) We often had lines at the Help Table. Sometimes there could be half a dozen people standing in line. Some of their questions could have been easily answered by a second person with access to the old street book, but the new "street book" (the computer) was tied up by the PTO using it to do other searches. If possible, for this November, maybe there could be a hardcopy street book available in addition to the computer. Something like this is really needed if multiple people work at the Help Table. g) In hindsight, we should have separated the polling place directory from the provisional poll list. Both are in the same binder. That would have let the separate files be used by two people at the same time. Or better yet, have two copies of the printed polling place directory, one in the binder and one outside since that information must be referenced often. It would be a good idea to also have the polling place directory on the computer. h) In general, it was much better when we had multiple people available to work at the Help Table. For example, one person could walk the line and gather information (and maybe resolve a problem without that voter's even getting to the PTO who was using the computer). Separating the "provisional ballot" job from the "address change + transfer in/out + where am I registered?" job helps a lot. Provisional voting is so complicated, interrupt prone, and time consuming, that it is better to have one person focus on getting it done right than trying to mix it with registration queries and handling moves. 2. Equipment and documentation comments: a) We found two misplaced dividers in the poll books. Some pages for the sections were in front of the associated divider instead of after the divider. b) There were no legs in the accessible booth (vs. what the manual said there should be), nor a separate bag for the legs (as there were in previous years). We just put that booth on a table. c) We had some complaints about the lack of lighting in the poll booths. There were no fluorescent tubes in any of the booths this year. In past years, most booths had tubes; some of them worked. d) We had no problems with ballot stacking in the bin, although we had about 750 ballots entered. This time they all fell pretty well into the bin vs. what had happened at a previous big election. I hope we are this lucky in November. e) The Help Table book had wrong locations for both the 01-44 and 01-51 polling places. We happened to know the correct addresses for each, but it makes you wonder how many others were wrong. Note that both those polling places have had correct addresses on the BOE web site for a long time. Why was the Help Table book out of date? That seems like a bad oversight. See the related comment below about 01-44 being unfindable and the resulting angry voters. f) When I first started using the provisional labels, I expected they would be in order from page to page, not just on a page. I was surprised when I got to the second page and found the sequence was broken. Then I looked thru the full set and found that some rows of labels had already been removed from the last page. I then assumed you must just reuse whatever label pages are left over from prior elections, or tests. g) There was one polling booth leg that we had a great deal of trouble getting apart (and, as far as I know, may not have ever separated when we packed up). h) As usual, we had not a single AutoMark user, except for the occasional voter who tried to use it as the M100. We need more signs saying: "Do NOT put your marked ballot in here!", or we need to hide the AutoMark. i) We didn't get a curbside bell for this election, so I cannot comment on how well that device works. However we definitely want one for November. Our polling place building (Saint Raphael Hall) uses sort of a "shotgun-style" architecture. The curb is almost 200 feet away from where the precinct officials hang out. Not only that, it is thru two rooms, plus a closed door in the winter. And, because we share the location with a school, sometimes in the afternoon, potential curbside voters and parents picking up children in the same driveway can be confused with each other, as seen from far away thru a small door window. It's a long walk to find out that car stopped in front did not really hold a curbside voter. Or worse yet, to miss seeing a curbside voter at all. j) We again had to put a wash cloth under one of the bin wheels to keep the bin from rocking badly. As in previous years, we taped an index card over the M100 tape to keep people from trying to tear off "their receipt". We also had to put some larger signs on the bin so people could find it from across the room. The BOE bin/scanner signs were too small to be seen from far away; our room is wide as well as long, and the lighting can be dim. We have some more work to do in this area. We probably also need a sign for the scanner saying "Keep sliding ballot in firmly (about six inches) until the machine grabs it." k) I did not see any of the checklists given to the Chief Judge, so I cannot comment on those. She read them to us as we did pack up, etc., and things seemed to go OK. l) When the room is very busy, it can be hard to hear the M100 alarm. We did have one case where a voter had inserted a ballot with too many names marked for some race, and then walked away. We didn't find there was an error until some time later, just before the next voter walked up to the M100. So we had to push Accept for the now-gone voter. The alarm had been beeping weakly all this time, but all the precinct workers were at least 10 feet away handling problems for the many other voters in the enclosure and did not hear the alarm until too late. 3. Provisional ballot/envelope comments: a) The color highlighting on the envelope was very helpful. However the printing could be improved: Make the yellow darker, the blue lighter, and the text printing more crisp. b) In the upper left box, add "general" before "election day" in the age question. Note that it is present in the "I Attest" box in the lower right (item 2). c) Why was Libertarian added back to the "Political Party Affiliation" box? Was it being anticipated that this party will have gathered enough signatures, etc., by November? d) You deleted the "DO NOT PLACE BALLOT IN TABULATOR" warning on the new envelope. Maybe it should be put on the back of the envelope in large letters. At any rate, prefolding the ballot before giving it to the voter certainly helps keep people from putting the ballot in the M100. All of our seventeen provisional ballots got back to the right place. I still recommend having the M100 programmed to detect a mark put in a special place on provisional ballots by the PTO, so the scanner could immediately reject such ballots. 4. Pollbook comments: a) My preference would still be to have the "ID Required" and "Verify Registration Information" on both sides of the pollbook page. If there is a space problem on the right side, use a code or abbreviation to squeeze it in. b) I suggest printing the "ID Required", "Verify Registration Information", and "Absentee" notifications in bold white on black printing. That should be easy to program and would make the manual highlighting less necessary. For example, see http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/name_not_found-2008.htm. 5. Authorization to Vote form comments: a) See the comment below for page B-6. The "UNA" check box should be labeled "NP". b) See the comment below for page B-15. The current ATV form layout does not work well with curbside voting. The PollWorker Manual has both the curbside voter and the Ballot Table official filling in the same field, and with different meanings. 6. BOE hotline phone comments: a) I didn't have much success in my first two attempts to call the BOE hotline. The phone rang probably around 30 times each time I called and was never answered. I had to hang up each time (despite your warnings) because I had a big line at the Help Table and couldn't have them wait any longer, possibly for a broken BOE answering system that was never going to answer. The two calls were to #3 and #4 on the menu. In both cases the main number answered immediately; it was the item from the audio menu that failed. b) The third time I called, I handed the phone to another person so I could keep working with other voters at the Help Table. By the time someone at the BOE finally answered and I got the phone back, I was a couple of voters further along, so I had to re-enter search data on the computer to redisplay the information for the original voter I had called about. 7. Computer comments: a) There were no hardware problems with the computer. It worked well in pretty quickly answering most questions on voter registration, address changes, and precinct changes. The computer is fast in doing a lookup and getting to the accurate data, but the PTO still has to type in the search data, which can be slow for non-typists. (See problem listed above about voter lines at the Help Table.) b) I wish there were a Geocode button on the right side of the "Voter Search" screen instead of forcing us to go thru the "View Registration" screen or using Tools > Geocode. c) There really should be only two screens needed for Help Table work: 1) search by voter name to determine all required information for that voter and 2) search by street address to determine precinct and ballot style for that street address. Data needed by the Help Table should be arranged to be on one of those two screens -- no others should be required. Currently there seems to be some data placement that requires three screens instead of two. d) Provide a way to easily recall the last few (perhaps five?) searched for names and street addresses. Often at the Help Table you partially process a voter, then have the voter go off and fill in part of a form (letting you now start to help the next person in line), then have to resume work with the original voter again, so you have to go back and re-enter the search name or address again to redisplay it. I ended up writing some of the data on a scratch pad so I could use it when the voter returned to resume being processed. I also started filling out parts of the form somewhat out of order to get around this problem. e) Space the digits of the displayed VRN, e.g., like a credit card number -- 0000 1011 3159, to make it easier to read for copying to the yellow form. 8. Problems with finding 01-44 polling place: a) People who are registered at (or who should be registered at) 01-44 sometimes come into our 01-43 polling place. We know where their correct polling place is and direct them there. That location had changed this year because the normal 01-44 polling place was being renovated. Unfortunately, this year you had the wrong (the old) name and address for 01-44 in the Help Table book. We caught that error and always sent people to the correct location. b) Not only that, apparently the signs at 01-44 were not placed where people could easily see them from Millbrook Road. We had people return and angrily say they couldn't find 01-44 (at Millbrook Elementary School). We verified the correct location with the BOE (tried several times before getting thru -- this is related to the BOE phone problem mentioned above) and sent the voters back again, telling them the location in the building where we thought the polling place was located. Our Chief Judge also talked to our coordinator and to a 01-44 precinct official about this problem. We were told they were going to fix the signs. 9. Procedure documentation a) I had previously posted three web pages for "Curbside Voting Procedure", "Procedure for Name Not Found in Pollbook", and "Voting a Provisional Ballot". I never received any BOE comments. See http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/WakeBOE_TOC.htm. b) I had also marked up page C-4 to add some missing information. c) We used these procedures during the election and they worked well. Having a procedure concisely and accurately listed on a single page is very helpful when there is a line of people, each with a problem and needing your help. ======================================================================== Additional comments on 2008 Pollworker Manual after my 4/20/08 e-mail: Page B-6: In the upper right box of Section A of the ATV: Shouldn't the "UNA" tag actually be "NP" (Non-Partisan) instead of "UNA"? The choice of which of the three small boxes is checked is related to the ballot issued, not to the registered party of the voter. Of course for a registered Republican or registered Democrat, there is no choice or confusion. However for a registered Unaffiliated voter, the ballot could be DEM or REP or NP; there is no such thing as a UNA ballot. Page B-10: There should be a "1)" in front of the "Voter has moved..." heading. Page B-12: In the "At a Glance" box after "Voter's Signature" add "(Except for the first check of a curbside ATV)" Page B-14: In two places (upper right and lower left of page) change "if primary, check party in Section A" to "if primary, mark ballot type desired in Section A". Page B-15: There is a deficiency in the current ATV form for curbside voting. Really Section D should have a place where the voter should declare his/her party (REP, DEM, or UNA), and also for a UNA voter to specify the desired ballot (REP, DEM, or NP). The way it is now, the Section A field, which should be filled in only by the Ballot Table official, is first filled in by the curbside voter. In fact, if the manual were followed exactly as currently written, a UNA curbside voter would check "UNA", but that would not tell the Ballot Table official what ballot to issue. Presumably with the current ATV, the curbside official better ask some questions at the curb: "OK, you are UNA. What sort of ballot do you want me to bring back: REP, DEM, or NP?" That information needs to be carried back to the ballot table as well as the party affiliation, which has to be verified before the ballot is distributed. Page C-3: Make "VOTER HAS AN ATV AND LABEL" into a bolder heading. Page C-4: In second box of second column, spell out "precinct". Page C-4: In second box of second column, add to end of "Write new ballot style on label" the following: "and circle it; make sure old ballot style has been Xed out" Page C-4: In second box of fourth column, change "new address" to "new residence address". Page C-4: In top right box, to second bullet (after "VERIFY ..."), add "Put ballot style on box in label". Page C-5: This flowchart needs a lot of work. See my logic chart at http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/name_not_found-2008.htm. Missing from C-5 currently are: * A "No record found" block * A "Recheck pollbook" block * A "Fill in Election Date" entry in the upper left block * Two "Destroy yellow form" notes for the two bottom left blocks Also, in the middle block, "Is the voter registered in YOUR precinct?" should read "Is the residence address of the voter in your precinct?" I hope I have understood all this correctly. My logic chart seems to match more closely the rest of the manual and seems to be what I think the BOE's intent is. Please let me know if I have misinterpreted this. Page C-6: Why isn't the "New Polling Place Address" filled in for the example? Page C-7: The text for the "Pollbook Indicates: Verify Registration Information" does not mention the required 30-day check. Page C-7: In bottom box: "There is only a small number of voter's" --> "There are only a small number of voters" (two changes) Page C-8: Add to item 4: Make sure the old ballot style has been Xed out. Page C-9: Clarify that in a party dispute, the ballot voted as the provisional ballot is the ballot for the party desired by the voter, which is not the registered party. Page C-11: Add to the bottom box: "Destroy the yellow "Unreported Move" ATV form". Page D-3: Under "Fourth" insert "issued" before "ballot style #". Page D-4: In the sample Provisional Envelope snippet Under "Sixth", is "Wake Tech" a valid precinct? Don't all precincts have numbers? Page D-5: Change sixth check bullet from "Look up voter's address" to "Look up voter's current residence address". I expanded on this page's text quite a lot in http://nbtha.org/WakeBOE/provisional-2008.htm. Page E-9: The shorter legs for the accessible booth were not in the booth. Is this a typo, or were we given a bad booth? Jeff Knauth, precinct 01-43