At the “Election Clerk” training, an interesting little issue came up. Apparently, voters in this election are allowed to vote with a paper ballot if they so chose, rather than using the electronic voting machines. However, the election clerks are forbidden from asking a voter which they would like to use. The voter has to know to ask for a paper ballot; if he or she doesn’t ask for one, they are voting on the touch screens.
I will leave it as an exercise for the more cynical reader to determine a rationale for this regulation.
The Democratic Party of Pima County is urging those who tend to vote democratic to request an early ballot. The rationale for this is they don’t trust the electronic voting machines that some precincts will be adopting this year. I find this amusing considering this is the party of Al Gore, who is pro-Internet.
this reminds me of ordering an alchoholic beverage in the state of Utah. The server will not offer you a cocktail, but you can ask for one.
and to tie it all together, you can’t get a drink on election day until the polls close.
are you allowed to wear a t-shirt that says “you may ask for a paper ballot”? 🙂
or “i’m not allowed to tell you you may ask for a paper ballot” 🙂 🙂
I suppose “paper or plastic” is too obscure for the T-shirt.
I like that idea! I might just do that. 🙂
Part of it depends on what role I play on Election Day. Will I be the person manning the Voter Roster? (Which would be the person fielding the “I want a paper ballot” requests? Or will I be the useless person double-checking the voter’s name on the street roster? Or will I be working the “Card Activator” machine? Or will I be floating, assisting, troubleshooting the voting machines? Don’t know yet, and probably won’t until the night before.
We’ll see how together the lead guide for my polling station is.
You might want to take a look at this post:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/sfbayarea/936709.html