* *** COMMENTS_ON_2026_AND_EARLIER_DOCUMENTS TXT - 10 May 2026 21:46:52 - JGKNAUTH The following summarizes my current comments on BOE documents. This is an update to my previous summary: https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Comments_on_2025-09-10_Documents.txt. I have now included comments on the March 2026 documents and deleted all previous comments that were resolved by the 2026 documents. I have also deleted comment details that are now covered better in other feedback material that I have supplied to the BOE Staff, e.g., in files provided via my "Actions Summary" webpage, https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/Actions_Summary.htm Election Day Manual 2026v.1 -------- --- ------ ------- Page 10: I still think this level of detail should be in the CJPG rather than the Manual. Only a short paragraph is needed here, not (some of) the details of what CJs and Js do. Here is what I propose for that page 10 paragraph: "The Tabulator may encounter ballot jams or stop accepting ballots if the Counted Ballots Bin becomes too full. To prevent this from happening, after every 1,500 voters the bin must be emptied and the ballots in it must be securely stored. Before starting this process the Chief Judge will announce to the voters what is about to take place and that the Tabulator will be temporarily unavailable. Voters must wait a short time before they can cast their ballots. When the emptying and storing process completes, the Chief Judge will announce that voters can resume casting their ballots." Page 38: As is well known by now, I have a problem with the current documentation about when the label is peeled from the pollbook and stuck on the ATV. Switch items 4 and 5 and fix the item numbering and circled numbers on pages 38 and 39. There are other changes that should be done in the Manual to get in sync with corrections needed for the RTQG flowchart; the flowchart problems and solutions are covered elsewhere. Page 38: Item 3: their pollbook aloud => their pollbook label aloud Page 74: First sentence: Scenario F is not listed with C, D, and E. Page 76: Under Option 1: If the ATV is spoiled at the end of the day, say explicitly that it should be put in the BT's Spoiled bag. It is partly said in the PIDQG flowchart. Pages 83: Somewhere in here it should say exactly when the Photo ID check should be done. When I asked some time ago, I was told it should be done after the voter has filled out all the yellow fields. This is needed to provide some of information for the check, e.g., the name. Provisional Envelope: I repeat my strong recommendation for a checkbox on the Provisional Envelope for the sometimes-required Photo ID check (voters without an ATV). It should be at the start of the list on page 2 and say something like, "Do a Photo ID check if the voter did not have an ATV". Photo ID Checks are normally done at the RT, but are not done there when the voter's label is not found in the pollbook. In that case the Photo ID check *MUST BE DONE AT THE HT*. The signal to the HT PO is that the voter arrives at the HT with no ATV, so has not been checked so far and must get the Photo ID check done at the HT. However the HTQG documents this via nearly invisible footnote callouts in Flow Chart #2. The only-occasionally-required Photo ID check might easily be overlooked. Page 33 of the Manual now has a good writeup on this, but HT POs typically are using the flowchart to process voters (per the proper BOE Staff edict), so must see the tiny footnote callouts to do the correct thing. I tell my HT POs to highlight the callouts to make them harder to miss. There's more on this in the HTQG comments below. Chief Judge Pocket Guide 2026.v.1 ----- ----- ------ ----- Page 10: Bullet 11 (the Last-Minute Absentee item). There is still no mention of possible (likely) PC use to make hardcopies of these lists. And still no mention that a copy is needed for the HT in addition to the copy mentioned to add to the Absentee List. I'm curious how large these lists were elsewhere in 11/24, etc. For 19-19 our list had 42 entries -- not something you want to handle over the phone or have to handwrite on Election Day. It has been as high as 54 entries in prior elections. Page 21: Replace the ExpressVote section with a more detailed page on ExpressVote ballot packing, e.g., saying how to get the count at the two times it is needed, with a different technique required for each of the two times. [see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/CJPG_errata.htm ] Page ??: Move edited Manual page 10 (1500-ballot bin emptying) to the CJPG. Reference the page 21 section replacement for getting the ExpressVote ballot count. [see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/CJPG_errata.htm ] Page 26: Fix Emergency Bin handling order; always open the bin to check. Page 28: In the tape #1 section, second bullet. Why not record the ExpressVote card count here in a CJPG box as I had specified in https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/Overlapped_Tape_Processing_REFORMAT.htm That count will be needed later; if it isn't recorded now it will have to be gotten off one of the stored away #1, #2, #3, or #4 tapes later. (Tape #5 and the magic/secret button will be unavailable when the voted ballots are put in boxes, which is when the ExpressVote card count will be needed. By that time the Tabulator will be powered off and locked up with Tape #5 inside.) [see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/CJPG_errata.htm ] An alternative would be to record the ExpressVote count somewhere on the Reconciliation Form at the same time you are recording the "number of Total Paper Sheets" on that form. Page 28: Don't select Report Options when printing tapes 3, 4, and 5. [see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/CJPG_errata.htm ] I have often asked the Staff if this is correct, but still have not received an answer. I should have checked myself during one of the elections, but forgot to do so under the pressure of finishing the end-of-day work fast enough to meet the dropoff deadline. Page 32: In the Counted Ballots Bin section, reference the page 21 section replacement for getting the ExpressVote ballot count. [see https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/CJPG_errata.htm ] Or (preferably) you could just say, "See the ExpressVote ballot count you recorded on page 28." (or on the Reconciliation Form) Page 33: Edit the lower left cell in the table. The "Ballot packages" term needs fixing. In my original source file for this I just said "Worksheet". https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/Bags_and_Reconciliation_Form_11-2023.htm I think something like "Worksheet from BT Officials" is a lot more accurate than "Ballot packages". Or at least just repeat "Total unvoted ballots" instead of saying "Ballot packages"; the middle column shows where the information comes from. Background: What we have done at my polling places to provide the "unvoted ballots" number is have my BT Officials use a worksheet, e.g., http://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/Ballot_Count_Reconciliation_2024-03-05.htm (Old versions of the BTQG said the BT Officials should record the unvoted ballots number on a scratch pad. The latest BTQG just says "report the number to the Chief Judge".) My worksheet is just a formatted way to help the Officials calculate the number and then report it to me. It is particularly helpful when the BT has to deal with multiple ballot styles, as we do in primary and municipal elections. Page 34: List the Tabulator tape roll as to be in the CJ Supply Bag. Registration Table Quick Guide 2026.v.1 ------------ ----- ----- ----- Pages 2 and 3, Registration Table Flowchart: I won't repeat here the details from my 2024, 2025, and 2026 comments. Nowadays the best reference is the " Registration Table processing" item in https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/Actions_Summary.htm#RTproc That "Actions Summary" item provides explicit scenarios to demonstrate some of the RTQG flowchart problems and their consequences. It also provides my proposed solution and documents my reasoning. As far as I know, my proposed "flowchart" (either letter-sized or card-sized format) has NO holes at all. If there are any, please say what they are. Not allowing a "forgetful voter" to bypass the HT is not a hole as far as I'm concerned, as fully explained in the "Actions Summary" item. Also, I think my flowchart has a much more linear flow and far better emphasizes the "perfect scenario" path, which is what almost all voters use. That makes it a lot easier to use than the RTQG flowchart. It's important for the RT POs to have something that is both accurate and easy to use. Pages 2 and 3, Registration Table Flowchart as an HTML/CSS file: I think in a number of places the BOE documents incorporate PDF files. As I have commented before, it is very easy to convert my HTML file (which the BOE Staff can edit) into a PDF file to put in your documents: Just have the browser "print" to a PDF file. (Firefox: "Destination" > "Save to pdf" or Edge: "Printer" > "Save to pdf". Ditto for any other competent browser). Such browsers and the Adobe Acrobat Reader program (and others) allow things like orientation, scale (size), and margins to be adjusted to match whatever your printed document requires. The HTML files also allow colors to be adjusted so two views are available from the same file, e.g., a colored one for a display and a black and white one for printing on a B/W-only printer. It also allows what text is displayed to be different from what text is printed. As I have offered before, I'm willing to teach BOE Staff members some basic HTML/CSS if they don't already know it, so they can easily edit such files or create their own. Long ago I had put together a web page for the Staff along those lines: https://jgkhome.name/HTML_CSS/HTML-CSS_Fundamentals.htm Everyone responsible for document creation really should have some HTML/CSS capability in their toolkit. It's one of the best things I have ever learned. Pages 2 and 3, Registration Table Flowchart as a card-sized document: Is there any plan to create a card or page like this one? https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/RT_Procedure_SMALL.htm . I have heard only good things about the card from the BOE Staff as well as from my Precinct Officials and Coordinators. We have now successfully used it from 2024 onward. Page 2, Registration Table Flowchart: Easy to miss footnote callout: Here I have my usual comment about the nearly invisible footnote callout for footnote 1 in column 1 block 2. Instead of a callout, just add text saying something like , "See Note 1 below." You have a lot of room. Help Table Quick Guide 2026.v.1 ---- ----- ----- ----- Page 4: As noted for past years' documents, the footnote callouts are so tiny they are very easy to miss. Since they are the only place saying a photo ID must be done, that's not good. Maybe use some bold, inline (not in the footnote callout font) text, like [#] , where the # is the "footnote" number. Voter Assistance Quick Guide 2026.v.1 ----- ---------- ----- ----- Page 2: The last Q/A on the page should be moved up to just below the "Voter Assistance Rules" figures, if not somehow combined with the figure on the right. Maybe just strike out the "including an Election Official" from the figure on the left and then move the "May Precinct Officials provide..." to be the first Q/A. As it stands, the left and right boxes leave hanging the "Can a Precinct Official assist in all cases?" until you get all the way down to the bottom of the page. I had commented on this often. Photo ID Quick Guide 2025.v.3 ----- -- ----- ----- Page 1: The text at the top of the page should be edited. It tells only part of the story. It shouldn't repeat some of the details of what the voter has already gone thru (per the Manual and RTQG) before getting to this point, but leaving out some important things. Keeping this PIDQG text as is just exposes you to having the PIDQG get out of sync with the other (main) documentation, as in fact had previously occurred. The PIDQG should focus JUST on Photo ID processing. I think the whole "Voting Process" text should be only: "After the voter's pollbook label has been found (see Manual, Section 4, Registration Table), ask the voter for a photo ID and verify it using the guidelines below. If you believe the voter's Photo ID does not meet all the requirements or the voter does not have a Photo ID, mark the "No ID" and "Photo ID" boxes on the ATV, process any other exceptions on the ATV, and then send the voter to the Help Table with the ATV. The voter does not sign the ATV and you do not initial it." You really need to provide those ATV box marking details here if you are sending the voter to the HT via this document, as you do. Page 4: For the first right-side cell in the FAQ, as is well known by now, my strong recommendation is to ALWAYS send the forgetful voter to the Help Table for the reasons I list in https://jgkhome.name/WakeBOE/TEMPORARY/Forgetful_Voters_and_Label_Attachment_Order.htm That reasoning proved well-founded in elections for 19-19 and 19-24; see the postmortem reports for those elections. See above for information about the associated RTQG flowchart problems. ========================== End of document ===========================