Hi, 19-24 Precinct Officials. Things finally seem to have stabilized, except for the weather. The diagrams linked to below are unchanged from what I had sent you two weeks ago.
Our 3/2/26 Monday Setup time at Hope Lutheran Church is 5:00 PM EST. We should finish setup sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 PM, maybe earlier if all goes well. Enter the Lobby door, the glass double door by the traffic circle; the left-side door should be unlocked. Then go all the way to the back for the door to Friendship Hall. See parking and layout.
The first diagram also shows where you should park on Election Day, down by the side driveway at the lower left part of the diagram.
I'll cover a lot in this email to hopefully make things go faster at Monday Setup. This email has links to files on my website. For setup, takedown, etc., I'll bring enough copies of the relevant diagrams for you to use Monday and Tuesday.
STAFFING: My desired staffing number is 12, but the BOE Staffing Team will provide only 11, so we will probably have to juggle positions during the day, particularly if we get many curbside voters. Sometimes I may have to fill in at curbside and elsewhere as I did in the 2025 election.
ASSIGNMENTS: Attached is my take on Monday and Tuesday assignments, based on your inputs. Tell me if you see any problems. Everyone should let me know at any time if you need to take a break or work at a different station. As usual we will try to move people around to multiple positions during Election Day.
PREPARATION: Review and bring your Manual, Quick Guides, etc., to be well prepared to start Election Day at your designated initial position. That position is shown in the table at the top of the attachment and is also flagged with a @@ in the table on the attachment's second page. Review the Oath in the Manual; I'll just quickly read it aloud Monday before you sign it.
OVERVIEW: Monday Setup tasks summarizes all the Monday setup tasks.
LAYOUT: This shows the inside layout we can try initially. We will probably shift things around somewhat when we have the actual furniture and voting equipment to experiment with.
INSIDE SIGNS: The placements of the black-on-yellow BOE signs are noted in the BOE sign kits and also (in most cases) on the bottom of each BOE sign. The placements of my color-on-white signs are shown in inside signs.
VOTING BOOTHS: As noted on the Manual, be sure to twist in the legs; otherwise they tend to fall out and the booth will collapse. I once saw that happen to a voter in Raleigh -- definitely not good! Also as pointed out in the Manual, the wheelchair-accessible voting booth has a special setup; it has shorter legs and also uses extenders to widen the gap between the front legs.
BOOTH PENS: When attaching a pen to a voting booth, you don't have to tie the string around the pen. Instead it's easier to just take off the pen's cap, stuff a little of the string's end into the cap, and then push the pen's barrel hard back into the cap, pinning the string to the pen. That's faster and more reliable than trying to tie the string tightly around the pen.
Voter path shows the path almost all voters will follow in the Voting Enclosure. This diagram is especially important for those of you new to being a Precinct Official or if you haven't served in a long time.
FLOWCHARTS: At Monday Setup, I'll go over my Registration Table card to point out some RT processing areas that Officials frequently overlook. See RT card. On Monday I'll give each of you a copy. A letter-size version, which uses fewer abbreviations and also provides some background information, is at letter-size flowchart. However the RT card does the job and is all you need to keep available.
Per the BOE Staff, you can use the RT card as personal notes on Election Day. However for consistency with other polling places, we must be sure to have the RTQG (Registration Table Quick Guide) flowchart taped to the Registration Table. I think the card is a lot simpler to use than the RTQG flowchart. It also corrects a number of problems I have reported over the years to the Staff about the RTQG flowchart. Eventually the Staff wants to create their own version of something like my documents.
The hints file lists some of the unusual things you might encounter at the Registration Table, e.g., why a name cannot be found in the pollbooks. This just collects some information that is currently sprinkled around the Manual, the Quick Guides, and BOE classes.
"FORGETFUL VOTERS": If a voter arrives at the Registration Table and then realizes they must go outside the voting enclosure to retrieve a forgotten photo ID or HAVA ID, they require special handling. Per my flowchart, the voter will always first be sent to the Help Table with the appropriate ID exception boxes marked on the ATV. The HT Officials will then follow the procedure already defined in the Photo ID Quick Guide for such a voter. That procedure allows the voter to leave the voting enclosure to retrieve a forgotten or better ID. On return the voter does not have to wait in the RT line a second time, but is escorted directly to the HT to complete all ATV processing.
This HT involvement for an RT-detected "forgetful voter" is an important difference between my RT flowchart and the RTQG flowchart. The RTQG flowchart tries to handle this at the RT, not involving the HT. Unfortunately, the delayed label attachment specified by the RTQG flowchart to handle "forgetful voters" can easily create mismarked ATVs sent to the Help Table. My flowchart makes it simple at the RT: If a valid ID cannot be presented now at the RT for any reason, including "I forgot; it's out in my car.", just mark the appropriate ATV checkboxes and send the voter to the HT to be handled as described above. In line with this, my flowchart requires the RT Official to attach the pollbook label to the ATV BEFORE Photo ID checking is done. That also makes things simpler at the RT, as well as eliminating a number of problems created by the order specified in the RTQG flowchart.
I'll go over all this at Monday Setup. As I'll explain there, this "I forgot" situation will in fact probably never happen, at least not at Hope Lutheran. The voter is reminded many times (by a number of signs and by the Door Monitor), "Don't forget to bring in your PHOTO ID!" This is all before the voter gets in an RT line. Any voter who STILL arrives at the RT without a photo ID properly SHOULD be sent to the HT.
ANOTHER SUGGESTION I HAVE MADE TO THE BOE STAFF, BUT WHICH THEIR DOCUMENTS DO NOT YET INCLUDE: If and only if the HT Official writes a ballot style on the back of the ATV, the HT Official should mark out any ballot styles on the front of the ATV. This ballot style marking out should have been done by the RT Officials for certain ATV exceptions; however the current RTQG flowchart neglects to do it in many cases where it should be done. This simple HT step fixes those problems and reduces possible cases in which the BT might give the wrong ballot style to a voter.
PARKING LOT SIGNS: My current plan for outside sign placements is in outside signs.
CURBSIDE SETUP: For this new (vs 2025) curbside location, We will have to experiment to see the best placement for the curbside doorbell stand, associated curbside signs, and the LED lighting system. I think the main curbside parking area should be a good way around the circle, putting it nearer the main Church door than the Lobby door. The driveway by the main door seems a little wider, giving more room for the curbside stand.
PROCESS DIAGRAM: Curbside processing describes the processing done for a curbside voter. My diagram has more detail than the BOE Manual page 66 diagram, which is attached to the back of the privacy sleeve. My diagram also covers some areas that were added to the curbside procedure after the BOE documents were printed.
Although the curbside procedure is complicated and involves a lot of walking, it works fine if you just follow my diagram. I'll provide a copy of that diagram to anyone who works curbside. It will be attached to the front of a pocket folder, which I created to hold the many other documents that may be required in the latest update of curbside procedures, e.g., for processing photo IDs and ATV "F" exceptions. A few years ago, things were simpler and only one piece of paper was involved -- that's no longer true.
EXCEPTIONS: Unfortunately, additional back-and-forth trips are required if something abnormal comes up, e.g., the curbside voter has an address change (that will require an indirect interaction thru you between the HT and the voter), or if the Tabulator detects an error (perhaps the voter marked too many entries in a race). You hope such exceptional things never happen, but they may and you will then have to deal with them.
Since Lynda has the most election experience of the Officials available for curbside, I have assigned her to start there. Usually there is no curbside traffic early in the day. That will give us time to train Mike and John S (and others?) for curbside to work with or replace Lynda. Not having the 12th Official makes thing harder than they should be.
PACKING UP: Debra will act as our Pack-Up Coordinator to make sure everything is retrieved, properly placed, and checked off correctly. Packing up organizes the complicated job of collecting and placing all the items after poll closing so each item can later be delivered to the right destination. I'm required to deliver some critical items to the New Bethel Church dropoff site in Rolesville by 9:30. If I cannot meet that deadline, I have to take the load to a Raleigh dropoff site, which is about 18 miles away (not a desirable nighttime drive).
CELL PHONES: Please DO NOT USE YOUR CELL PHONE in the voting enclosure. This precludes even just reading things on your phone. Observers and voters will see you no matter how much you try to hide your phone use. You can go outside if you must use your phone. Of course if you are calling or being called by the BOE, that use is permitted.
READING MATERIAL: Political reading material is NEVER allowed. For this election, given the expected larger voter turnout, the BOE Staff has said you CANNOT bring non-political reading material to read during slack periods. As usual, electronic reading devices such as Kindles, iPads, laptops, etc., are not allowed.
OBSERVERS: It is currently unknown if there will be Observers in this election. If we do have Observers, they are allowed to talk with you as long as they aren't interfering with your job. However if they start asking about procedures, direct them to me. I'm the one they are supposed to deal with for such discussions.
EMERGENCY GATHERING LOCATION: If we have to evacuate in an emergency, we will gather in the driveway circle's grass area in front.
NO ONE CAN LEAVE EARLY: We'll be at Hope Lutheran for at least 14-15 hours and maybe longer if there is a voter line or a problem at poll closing. You cannot leave until we all leave after packing up.
WEATHER: As of this morning, the weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday is not very good -- cloudy, chilly, and a chance of rain. But the forecast has changed every day. We'll see. Dress appropriately.
PARKING: On Tuesday please park in the area designated for Staff and Precinct Officials as shown in parking.
See layout for the restrooms, kitchen, and dining table locations mentioned below.
RESTROOMS: The restrooms can be used by Precinct Officials, Observers, and voters (plus their kids and assistants). They CANNOT be used by anyone else, e.g., campaigners. Such people will have to be told to use the facilities elsewhere, e.g., in a grocery store or a fast food place.
KITCHEN AND FOOD/DRINKS: Bring whatever food and drinks you'll need during the day. The Church kitchen has a microwave and a refrigerator. We can use the right-hand side of the big refrigerator and can move around items there, if needed.
COFFEE MAKER: For Tuesday I'll bring my Keurig coffee maker together with assorted K-cups and ceramic coffee cups you can use. If you have some preferred flavors, feel free to bring more K-cups.
EATING AREAS: We'll set up a table and chairs in the Hall, away from the voters, probably in the corner near where the diagram shows "Extra Church Furniture". Don't have anything spillable at your station table, e.g., at the Registration Table.