Washblog

The morning had an exciting start. We arrived to a locked building. So we started calling everyone we could think of. The janitor arrived around 6:45am. He was very embarrassed; he got the days confused and thought the election was the next day. (President's Day confused him, he woke up Tuesday morning thinking it was Monday. Easy mistake.)

Then it was a mad scramble to get the poll site set up. Gather the tables, chairs. Post the flags and signs. Etc.

Missing Equipment

The next major hitch was we couldn't find the poll box or the privacy booths. More phone calls. Recalling that some poll sites got their poll boxes late for the Nov 2007 general, I feared the worst. By chance, one of the poll workers noticed something weird in the unlit baffle (alcove on the side of the theater). Ah ha! Equipment found. Turns out there was a performance on the stage over the weekend and the students moved (hid) the equipment. Smart move; I just wish they had told someone.

Poll sites are supposed to be open, ready to receive voters, at 7:00am. We were ready to issue paper poll ballots at 7:30am. Any other election, that would have been a major problem; we usually have 5-10 voters who show up exactly at 7:00am. Fortunately, for this silly Presidential Primary, the first voter showed up around 8:00am.

Field Repair of AccuVote TSx

It took longer to get the AccuVote TSx computer voting machine set up.

First, the poll workers tasked with that job couldn't get the leg of the base units to fully extend. The legs are made out of cheap aluminum tubing. Think discount lawn furniture. So they got bent out of shape and had to be torque straight. (Sorry, no picture.)

Next, they couldn't get the printer housing to attach correctly to the base unit. We determined the cause: A flimsy metal part inside the printer housing was bent "out of square", so that various bits would not mesh.

Here's what the AccuVote TSx looks like when set up.

Look at all those loose cables, breakable plastic parts, and complicated enclosures. Complete crap.

Here's some quick snapshots of the internal metal part. The first four show the complicated flimsy metal part. I borrowed pliers from the janitor. It was hard to get that piece back to square. Especially since we didn't have a working part to use a reference. The last shows how the part fits inside the cheap, complicated enclosure.

It's really too bad that I didn't get a snapshot of the bent part. My excuse is that we were rushed to get things fixed. I only took these quick pix, thinking that I'd better cover my ass, in case I was ever accused of sabotaging the machine. (Yes, sometimes I'm paranoid.)

I also heard, second hand, that other poll sites were having problems setting up their AccuVote TSx units, for the same reasons. (I haven't done a records request of the incident reports.)

How'd the AccuVote TSx Get Broken?

The major reason is that we paid gold brick prices for paving stones. This Diebold gear defines a new floor for product quality.

The minor reason is the printing unit requires better protection during shipment. The Diebold provided carrying case is a cloth bag filled with form fitting foam. (Sorry, no pic of the carrying case. Next time.)

If you look at the picture of underside of the printer housing, you'll see there's no internal structure, like cross braces. I think what happened is the housing was compressed a little bit too much during shipping and handling. No parts would be broken outright, but the shape is deformed enough to keep the parts from fitting together.

(Incidently, participating in the poll worker training for these units would be funny, if it wasn't so pathetic. Something always go wrong. Like needing to re-reset the machines. These challenges are in no way a short-coming of the trainers. No, the gear is way too complicated. Said as a person who designs products and user interfaces.)

My Team of Poll Workers

I probably shouldn't write this part, but I had a great team in February. (Now KCE will probably cannibalize it!) For the first time, we had enough bodies to cover all the positions, even when someone was taking a break.

Also, each of my poll workers was very competent. In times past, that's been a serious issue. I feel bad saying this; poll workers get paid minimum wage, so what do you expect? But this is our democracy we're talking about here.

The end result is we were able to quickly pack up the poll site and deliver everything to the election depot in record time. We were the 5th poll site to report in; we just drove up to the depot. Woot! (Nothing is more gratifying than waiting 20 minutes in line, late at night, to return your gear.)

I also want to acknowledge the efforts of "Bob", our poll site's roving troubleshooter. He was very helpful escalating our incidents and getting set up.

Important Observation About Mail Balloting

The number of voters who have willingly switched to a mail ballot has plateaued. At this stage, everyone still using the poll site does not want to use a mail ballot. We heard great displeasure from many voters about being forced to use mail ballots. For the first time, we even had voters asking how to switch back to poll voting.

And for the record, anyone who is still arguing that mail balloting is cheaper, less complicated, more secure, or more accurate has no idea how the system works. (Or is lying.) So I wouldn't be terribly confident in the inevitability of closing the poll sites.

Also, I've heard from numerous voters that they were signed up for mail ballots without their consent. Since voter registration forms are not public records, there's no way to validate these claims. Nice.

Looking Forward

Because the 2008 primary was moved to summer (August), I expect voter turnout to be relatively low. People just aren't used to voting in the summer. (Another way that forced mail voting decreases turnout. Darn those unintended consequences.)

But November's general is going to be a crush. In 2006, not a Presidential election, my poll site was crushed. (It was awesome!)

Voter turnout for general elections has increased every year since 2000.

We really, really need able-bodied persons to serve as poll workers this November. The August primary will be excellent training. So please call King County Elections 206-296-1606 an sign up.

If you're in another county, please spend 8 hours (e.g. 2 days, 4 hours each) observing your county's central count. It's like watching sausage production; you'll be amazed.

Another very useful oversight activity is attending the canvassing board meetings. That's were all the (acknowledged) problems are discussed. The canvass board is also responsible for certifying elections. So watching them is a good use of time.