* *** POSTMORTEM_2024-05-14 TXT - 21 May 2024 00:00:28 - JGKNAUTH Postmortem Report for Precinct 19-19 for 5/14/2024 Election ---------- ------ --- -------- ----- --- -------- -------- > SUMMARY < ======= Unfortunately the voter turnout at Precinct 19-19 was pitifully low. (Time for NC to consider rank choice voting?) This was not unexpected for a second primary with few races, especially with bad weather. It rained most of the day, sometimes very hard, but the wind was never too strong compared to some past elections. We had no significant problems with the election, except for the rain. > STATISTICS < ========== As of 5/3/24 the total number of registered 19-19 voters was 8368. (Our precinct is now the fourth largest in Wake County.) However only about 5936 of these were eligible to vote in this Republican-only election. The precise eligible-to-vote number should be available after Canvass, but should differ little from the 5936 calculated below. FYI: I calculated the eligible-to-vote number as follows: Approximate number of labels in the pollbooks = 1176 (number of pages) * 5 (labels per full page) - 50 (approximate number of "blank labels" on the letter end pages) = 5830 = number of eligible voters who haven't voted. To that I added 106 (number of absentee voters in the pollbook box #1 list) to get 5936. With this approach, the count of last-minute absentees is included in the label count, not in the absentee count, even though those voters have actually voted. Arithmetically, this placement makes no difference when the two types are added together. Of the eligible voters, the turnout for this election was about 2.0% at the polling place and 1.8% via absentee voting (mail-in or one-stop) for a total of only about 3.8% of the Precinct 19-19 people eligible to vote in this election. Tabulator vs ATV counts: 117 vs. 117 Provisional ballots: 0 Spoiled ballots: 0 Emergency bin ballots: 0 Challenged ballots: 0 Curbside voters: 1 ExpressVote voters: 0 Observers: 0 (0 Precinct-Specific Observers) (0 At-Large Observers) Eligible voters: 5936 (eligible to vote in this election) Monday-list absentees: 106 (the long list in pollbook box #1) Last-minute absentees: 1 (the short list gotten from the PO website) ---- Total absentees: 107 Voting booths set up: 15 (includes 1 provisional and 1 accessible) Total chairs at tables: 0 (at 0 square 42" tables) -- Total "booths" 15 Ballot Count Reconciliation web page: http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Ballot_Count_Reconciliation_2024-05-14.htm > STAFFING AND EMAIL CONSIDERATIONS < ======== === ===== ============== At this election we were supposed to be assigned nine Officials. There were initial assignments, then initial dropouts, then assignments of replacements for those dropouts. There were then assignments of replacements for more of the original assignees who dropped out after the first wave. Then there were assignments of replacements for some of the initial replacements who later dropped out, etc. Two of our initial Judges were among the dropouts; they were replaced by promoting some of the initial assignees. For a while we had three Judges, a mistake since there are supposed to be only two. By Election Day we were down to seven Officials, including two replacement Judges. Those seven worked hard and well, so we got thru it all. As usual there were email problems trying to do the initial contact with all these prospective Officials. There needs to be some way to get prospective Officials to more closely monitor their emails to watch for *and respond* to emails from the BOE and Chief Judges. I had made some suggestions in November 2021 in http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Email_Problems_and_Solutions.txt That writeup still seems to be valid, although the WCBOE email address has changed to elections@wake.gov. > POLLING PLACE SETUP < ======= ===== ===== We expected few voters in this election and did our Media Center setup accordingly. See https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Sanford_Creek_Elementary_Layout_Very_Small.pdf We had no Disney line and had no tables as extra "voting booths". We set up for three Registration lines, just in case, but used only two. We had no Line Monitor, Door Monitor, or Voting Booth Official for this election. > PHOTO ID, HAVA ID, and ATV FORM < ===== === ==== === === === ==== 1) We had no significant NC photo ID problems. There was one expired NC driver license, but within the one year time limit. 2) We had one problem with the current ATV format. *BOTH* the initial RT Officials misinterpreted the ATV text: "If label indicates voter is ID Required, check the type of current ID shown:" and checked the "Photo ID" box just because the voter had presented a valid driver license to pass the NC photo ID check (not the HAVA ID required check). Note the Manual writeup, page 33, uses "HAVA ID Required" not just "ID required" for the ATV "ID" case. When I later saw the errors, I explained the difference and had them error correct the ATVs. I suggest that the text of the ATV be changed from "If label indicates voter is ID Required, check the type of current ID shown:" to "If label indicates [ID] (i.e., voter must show an ID required by HAVA), then check the type of current HAVA ID shown:" Here by "[ID]" I mean a white on black "ID" symbol, as appears on ATVs. In my RT card and flowchart I found that using the white on black symbols really helps convey what I intended. Of course having a "HAVA" text qualifier wherever possible helps reduce the inevitable confusion caused by these these two different types of ID checking with similar names. 3) As a thought to help reduce the "ID" vs (NC) "photo ID" vs "HAVA ID" confusion: Could the ATV white on black "ID" be printed as "H-ID" and all the documentation be updated accordingly? 4) The new HAVA ID sheet provides good "What is current?" information. However by deleting some text, it now leaves unclear whether an ID copy (paper or electronic) is acceptable. I have been told by the BOE Staff that copies are still acceptable for HAVA, (but still are not for the NC photo ID check). The Staff is working with the NCSBE to get the proper text restored for the HAVA ID sheet. > REGISTRATION TABLE < ============ ===== 1) I have been working with the BOE Staff on a replacement for the Registration Table Quick Guide flowchart. For the detailed flowchart, which covers all exception handling, see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/RT_Flowchart.htm For an abbreviated (index card size) version, which does not handle all exceptions (it points to the detailed flowchart for that), see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/RT_Procedure_SMALL.htm At Monday Setup, for education purposes and to get feedback, I went thru these two in detail with the Officials. I particularly emphasized the division of the process into three steps and then what was required in each step. On Election Day if I saw an Official was not doing something correctly, e.g., not reading the label information back to the voter, I hauled out the card and pointed out the requirement and where it should be done. 2) See the ATV text problem described above. Other than that, in my ATV audits I found no errors had been made at the RT -- much better results than in the March election. > BALLOT TABLE < ====== ===== 1) We had only one ballot style, one BT Official, and no scanner. There was only one curbside voter. There were no spoiled ballots, ExpressVotes, or jurisdiction disputes. The BT process went very smoothly -- no problems during the day or during end-of-day reconciliation. 2) There was one unusual thing. In our ExpressVote box, one of the packs was open. It had only 24 ballots, not 25. I thought I saw an open pack when they counted the packs for me at Supply Pickup, but did not question it then. Later that day I emailed the BOE Staff to ask if an open pack was allowed. I was told "No" and was asked to do a ballot count if a pack was open. I checked and found an open pack with just 24 ballots, which I then reported. For reconciliation I had the BT Official use 99 instead of 100 as the count of delivered ExpressVote ballots. Since we had no ExpressVote voters, it was all pretty easy to reconcile -- no used ExpressVote ballots, 99 left. I also reported that someone had handwritten "99" on the "19-19" label of the ExpressVote box, so someone at the Op Center was aware of the unusual contents. There are some other ExpressVote comments in the "Orange Box Labeling and ExpressVote Packing" section below. > HELP TABLE < ==== ===== 1) It was a very quiet day at the Help Table. We had just one Official and one laptop. There were no Provisional Envelopes processed. In fact there was no special ATV handling of any sort as marked by the Registration Table. I don't think we had even one transfer in or out. There were some laptop lookups to direct voters to the right polling place and to show why a voter was not in the pollbook because they were not eligible to vote in this election. 2) Our experienced Help Table Official was able to show our new HT Official (who was working at the Ballot Table) how some things worked. That was a worthwhile use of time and resources. > CURBSIDE < ======== 1) We had only one curbside voter, but she proved to be a real problem. She was very angry because she claimed she had waited a long time before she was noticed. From the way she was parked, it was not clear if she had even pushed the doorbell button. (See below for a doorbell problem.) She gave a lot of grief to the first-time Curbside Official dealing with her (in the rain!), but there were no problems processing her ATV or ballot. 2) This voter's ballot had gotten a little water spattered while being handled by the voter. Fortunately the Tabulator took it. > EXPRESSVOTE < =========== The ExpressVote code entry worked the first time in this election. In the last election it took three tries. We had no ExpressVote voters this election. For an ExpressVote ballot package problem, see the above "Ballot Table" section. See also "Orange Box Labeling and ExpressVote Packing" below. > TABULATOR AND BLACK TABULATOR BASE < ========= === ===== ========= ==== 1) It took two tries to make the code work on the Tabulator, although I thought I had entered it correctly and was observed by the two Judges while doing it. 2) We used the Tape Overlap procedure in this election that we had experimented with in the last election. The tapes for this election were very short and printed in just a few seconds, so there was no big overlap and no time saving. I'll look further to see if I can modify the process to help more when the tape reports are short. Since the reports are identical, maybe just print all five short tapes at the start, tearing off each of the first four and then doing the signing, purple envelope stuffing, and wall hanging as required for each of those four. 3) The high humidity seemed to cause no Tabulator problems. > RECONCILIATION PROCESS < ============== ======= There were no reconciliation problems. The ATV count matched the Tabulator count, the important test. With the ExpressVote count adjustment mentioned above, the ballot inventory counts matched as well. See http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Ballot_Count_Reconciliation_2024-05-14.htm > CAMPAIGNERS/OTHERS < ================== 1) There were no campaigner problems. There was only one set of campaigners, set up under a rain tent. That eventually reduced to one campaigner, and then to zero as the rain worsened. 2) I warned them about the restroom restriction and pointed them to the nearby Town of Rolesville Parks and Recreation porta potty as a fallback. They thanked me for that information. > OBSERVERS < ========= We had no Observers. > COORDINATOR < =========== 1) We had two visits from our Coordinator, Luwam Zeray, one of the BOE Staff. It was very good to have everyone be able to meet one of the Staff. She was able to spend a good amount of time talking to each of our Officials. 2) We had a doorbell problem. Luwam gave us a replacement. See below. > HARDWARE AND SUPPLIES < ======== === ======== 1) We red-tagged a doorbell kit. The doorbell worked fine when tested outside during Monday Setup and again on Tuesday morning. But then it failed to ring when we processed our first (and only) curbside voter in the early afternoon, although it wasn't clear if she had tried to use it. In a test at that time it didn't ring. We brought it inside and it still didn't work immediately. I cleaned off the rain water and warmed it in my hand for a short while; then it worked. We took it outside and it now failed. Back inside for more warming and eventually it worked again. All this made me think the battery was weak and could no longer transmit adequately for a long distance, particularly when cold. I notified our Coordinator; she brought us a new kit which worked. 2) In the March election the BOE gave us a new LED lighting system. It worked very well to handle the dark entrance to our voter enclosure. Unfortunately the box is large and aggravates the car packing problem. For the May election I had emailed the Staff that we would not need the light in May when the dark would not be a problem, but would need it in November. (If we had gotten it in May, we would have just left it packed in its box, unnecessarily having to cart it around Monday and Tuesday.) The Staff said they would pass that along to the right people. However that communication did not work. At Supply Pickup for May they tried to make me take the LED system. I refused and again gave them the reasons why. They said they understood and took it back inside the Op Center. I did not sign for it. However at Tuesday night dropoff, they seemed to think I had taken the LED system. I again explained and told them to call Spencer Berg when they questioned my statement, since he was aware of the communication problem. Fortunately Luwam Zeray happened to be there and backed me up. 3) Because of the predicted rain, I had brought a couple of tarps and some garbage bags to protect things like the ballot boxes and pollbook boxes. Fortunately it had not started raining when I brought in the supplies. During the day it rained hard, including when our intrepid Official had to bring in all our signs, cones, curbside stand, etc. However the rain stopped after that and did not start again while we were loading my car. So we never had to use the tarps and we took the garbage bags off the pollbook boxes before putting those boxes in the car. We never got around to covering the ballot boxes. See http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/BOE_Supplies.txt for some other supplies comments from past elections that still apply, e.g., for the CJ lanyard and card holder. See http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/BOE_Wish_List.txt for my current general wish list, to which I have added a couple of items, tagged "5/17/24". > DOCUMENTATION AND TRAINING < ============= === ======== 1) I marked up the Chief Judge Pocket Guide (CJPG), but at delivery it must have fallen out and was missed in my trunk by the unloaders. They said my trunk was empty. I should have checked, but didn't. I found the CJPG later when I opened the trunk while retrieving some signs I had set up along the road to our polling place. I was not able to get back to the dropoff site before they left. I notified the Staff and said I would deliver the CJPG to them later. 2) I had emailed the Staff many comments on the March documents, as well as providing a marked-up CJPG and listing some things in previous postmortem reports. 3) The Provisional Envelope needs a checkbox for photo ID checking. It should be the first in the list of checkboxes and say something like, "If voter came to the Help Table without an ATV, photo ID checking has now been done." Otherwise it seems it would be easy to forget that photo ID checking had not been done for an ATV-less voter. > ORANGE BOX LABELING AND EXPRESSVOTE PACKING < ====== === ======== === =========== ======= 1) For poll closing there are no instructions in the CJPG about labeling or not labeling the orange box. I have been told by the Staff that we should use an "Unvoted Ballots" label marked "1 of 1". That instruction should be added to the CJPG. In this election we may not have labeled the ExpressVote (orange) box. I know we labeled all the boxes used with regular ballots, but I now think we may have missed doing that for the orange box. I suspect many other polling places may have done the same, given the lack of guidance in the CJPG or Late-Breaking News. We did label it "1 of 1" in the March election. 2) Note that at supply pickup no security seal is put on the orange box in contrast to what is done for the boxes of regular ballots. That inconsistency seems strange. Are the ExpressVote ballots considered to be less in need of security precautions than the regular ballots? 3) I have used the term "regular" ballots above to mean the normal, wide ballots, i.e., the ballots other than ExpressVote ballots. There needs to be an official term for those "regular" ballots that can be used throughout the BOE documentation and other communications. 4) Although we certainly didn't need it in this election, missing is a description of the Tabulator magic button to display the ExpressVote ballot count. This count is needed for the 1500-ballot-emptying process. The emptying process is currently described on page 10 of the Manual, but that text should instead be in the CJPG. The writeup currently does not mention ExpressVote at all. It should say how to find how many such ballots there are and specify the special packing they require. Some (not all) of this is in the CJPG for poll closing, which should mention that the ExpressVote count is on the tapes. There is nothing in the CJPG for the 1500-ballot-emptying task. > PICTURES < ======== For some pictures and explanatory text about the 19-19 voting enclosure, voting equipment, etc., see https://photos.app.goo.gl/M66H7Vjtnghj94ai9 If you are unfamiliar with viewing Google Photo albums, http://jgkhome.name/Misc/Google_Photos.htm gives some hints. In particular, note how to use the "circle i" to view the full text beside each picture. When viewing the information, be sure to scroll to the top; sometimes Google Photos starts the information display partway down. > SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE < =========== === === ====== 1) See the "Suggestions for the Future" section in the March postmortem report, https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Postmortem_2024-03-05.txt 2) I think it would be better to restrict the Late-Breaking News to really new things, not repeat things that should already be well known. We don't have a lot of time in the Monday Setup meeting to read everything you say should be read aloud to the whole group, so I do some editing on the fly. 3) It certainly would be helpful if an email were sent immediately when a change is made to the CJ portal instead of sending the notification that evening. Hours can make a difference, particularly when changes occur very shortly before Election Day. It can take a long time for Officials to respond to CJ attempts to make contact -- the sooner we can start, the better. Report written by Jeff Knauth, Chief Judge for 19-19 with input from the other Officials for this precinct