Yesterday I took a stab at some civic duty by being a poll worker for 6-3 at the Hyde Community Center. With the large turnout (1600 voting) it was pretty cool to see the diversity of folks casting their votes, some for the first time. Many children accompanied their parents to help place the ballot in the machine. It really looked like democracy in action.
From my side of the table, I have to say that I felt a bit under the gun to do a good job getting folks in and out efficiently without making a mistake. Even with the rush of early morning voters things went pretty smoothly for us during our 15 hour shift and I wonder if everyone voting thought the poll workers and the Newton process works well.
I’m always pleasantly suprised at how cheerful our poll workers are, even at 6 or 7 pm after a very long day… Seemed to work “like butter”
I vote at the Ward School. It’s always a pleasure to see the volunteers there, and they do an excellent job. I am however very concerned about our voting mechanism here in Newton, and perhaps this is a good thread to raise the point. Did anyone else notice that the ink from markers bled through to the other side of the ballot? I have a hard time believing the scanning machines don’t get confused by that bleed-through affect on a two sided ballot. What’s up with that???
It was great. I don’t know if it was just good timing or what, but almost line-free at 2-1 Horace-Mann. I was there once at 5pm and once at 7pm (with wife and kid). Process works really well, though I’ve never seen it with a crowd. Don’t know how Horace-Mann would take long lines the way it’s set up, can’t imagine it would be pretty.
Easy and pleasant going at Peirce, per usual! Mike, I noticed the same thing. It was weird. I turned my ballot over and, because I must have been having a “blonde” moment, thought “gee, there’s something wrong – look at all the smudges.” It took me a few seconds to realize that it was my hash marks bleeding through. Hopefully, it all registered okay….at least all my candidates won!
@Mike Striar, I already posted this on the “other” blog in Newton, but when my family and I went to vote yesterday we noticed the same thing, so I called the Elections Department. They were aware of the issue and had contacted the elections division of the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth about it. The optical scanners do not “read” the marker bleed through as a vote, so it does not cause the ballot to be invalid. So your vote counted.
@Ted, thanks for the confirmation. This was a frequently asked question yesterday.
Ted– Thanks for checking into that issue so quickly. It’s nice to know someone in local government actually pays attention to stuff like this. Frankly, I wasn’t worried that my vote didn’t count. I’m more worried about the integrity of the ballots, and whether votes are counted correctly. From what you were told, are you confident the ballots with bleed-through are properly counted?
@Mike, yes, but I will confirm with he head of the elections department, Craig Manseau, when I see him. The bleed throughs were not where the scanner would have expected a mark to be, i.e., inside one of the ovals, on the reverse side. Still, I can understand why it would be a bit disconcerting. I like a tidy ballot myself. Better than a hanging chad any day, though.
Signs over head that indicate which person you check in with would ease some of the confusion.
Kim, agreed– I knew where to go from practice, but not everyone knows or remembers their precinct, so better direction further down the line would help, but I did not think it was a major problem at Bigelow when I was there.
Mike, also noticed the bleed-through, but also checked and noticed what Ted mentioned, that the bleed did not cover any ovals, so assumed it was not an issue. I don’t remember that happening before, but I don’t think we often have 2-sided ballots
Groot, how long did the training take to be a poll worker, and is there a minimum number of hours they’d like you to work on Election Day? This is one of the things I aspire to do when I am old enough to retire, since I’m usually working on Election Night, and resting up earlier in the day.
@Julia, I worked as an Inspector checking voters in or out. The training was minimal. The Wardens and Clerks receive more training but not sure how much. Workers are expected to work all day (6am to 9pm) or half day with a couple of breaks. It was a long day but a good experience.