Write Lightning is a blog from writer Deb Thompson.
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Everyone is welcome here.
(Some links or topics may not be completely kid-appropriate.)
Wed, Nov 08 2006
Voting: The day after
After what I've read today, I think our particular polling place in Santa Cruz County did very well with its first use of both a paper ballot scanner and a touch screen voting machine. Voters did well, for the most part, with the new marking system of completing an arrow. We had a lot of absentee ballots brought in, which is typical for our precinct. What is not as typical were the high number of provisional ballots, and many of those were due to voters in some districts having been sent a mail-in ballot. Some did not know to mail the ballot, some lost or tossed their ballot by mistake and some were just opposed to that process altogether and opted instead to come in and vote in person.
We had quite a few who bravely chose to vote by touch screen for the first time and most needed very little additional help to navigate the screens. Some were a bit confused by the first printing on the paper printer and thought they were finished. We had to let them know that their ballot was not yet cast until they reviewed their choices and touched the button to actually cast their ballot. The paper printer then finishes by politely advancing to a blank sheet so that the next voter cannot see what the previous voter's choices were.
We had one minor calibration issue with the touch screen machine, but a visit from a cool-headed tech rover took care of that nicely. Our regular rover was so busy that we only had one visit from her, but we knew she'd be busy because of so many county precincts using electronic voting for the first time this round.
We were working in a new space this time, a room which happened to be an elementary school library. It was a great eye candy with all the books and seasonal decorations, but it was terribly, horribly enticing for the little children who came in with parents who were busy casting votes. If we use that particular space again we'll have to find a way to block off all those shelves of books to keep them from being so tempting for bored kids who are waiting.
I arrived at 6am and left about 9:30pm, but those who had to take the voting materials to the checkpoint had another whole hour of travel and waiting to go. It's was a long day, but it's very satisfying to see people make their voices heard. Now we'll see what the majority choices bring.
posted at: 11:52 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
After what I've read today, I think our particular polling place in Santa Cruz County did very well with its first use of both a paper ballot scanner and a touch screen voting machine. Voters did well, for the most part, with the new marking system of completing an arrow. We had a lot of absentee ballots brought in, which is typical for our precinct. What is not as typical were the high number of provisional ballots, and many of those were due to voters in some districts having been sent a mail-in ballot. Some did not know to mail the ballot, some lost or tossed their ballot by mistake and some were just opposed to that process altogether and opted instead to come in and vote in person.
We had quite a few who bravely chose to vote by touch screen for the first time and most needed very little additional help to navigate the screens. Some were a bit confused by the first printing on the paper printer and thought they were finished. We had to let them know that their ballot was not yet cast until they reviewed their choices and touched the button to actually cast their ballot. The paper printer then finishes by politely advancing to a blank sheet so that the next voter cannot see what the previous voter's choices were.
We had one minor calibration issue with the touch screen machine, but a visit from a cool-headed tech rover took care of that nicely. Our regular rover was so busy that we only had one visit from her, but we knew she'd be busy because of so many county precincts using electronic voting for the first time this round.
We were working in a new space this time, a room which happened to be an elementary school library. It was a great eye candy with all the books and seasonal decorations, but it was terribly, horribly enticing for the little children who came in with parents who were busy casting votes. If we use that particular space again we'll have to find a way to block off all those shelves of books to keep them from being so tempting for bored kids who are waiting.
I arrived at 6am and left about 9:30pm, but those who had to take the voting materials to the checkpoint had another whole hour of travel and waiting to go. It's was a long day, but it's very satisfying to see people make their voices heard. Now we'll see what the majority choices bring.
posted at: 11:52 | category: /Politics | link to this entry
