Voting is tougher than it looks, Wisconsin

One of the first voters of the day, a neighbor who serves on my community’s condominium board of directors, asked me why she had two ballots. “Is one for practice?” she asked. I took one of them and apologized for the error. Then another voter asked the same question. Apparently, the first batch was sticking together, or else the paper ballot clerks just weren’t noticing. Either way, I hope we followed the “one person, one vote” rule, but I wouldn’t stake my life on it. — My friend 2 Jeters 1 Cup, on his experience at his polling place during last Tuesday’s DC primary

Hello, Wisconsin.

Yes, Wisconsin, I’m talking to you. I know you can read this. I know this because thanks to Google Analytics, I can see that you have visited my blog 392 times in the past five months. I know that’s not too many (a little more than two visits a day) but that’s almost as many as Oregon has and I have a sister who lives there.

So put down your cheese hats and irrational love for the Packers and listen up. You have a primary today. Obama and Clinton are practically wetting themselves for your 74 Democratic delegates. You have a responsibility to get to the polls — unlike some people — and cast your vote.

But you might want to consider happened in DC last week during its primary.

My friend 2 Jeters 1 Cup, also known as GoPats to regular readers of this blog, volunteered at his local polling place in Mount Pleasant last Tuesday. Though DC is not exactly world-renowned for being the most efficient government entity, what happened there should scare just about every American who believes in the near-sacred right to vote.

Despite 7 years of active election reform, the act of voting in this country works about as well as a DMV in Los Angeles. There are still moments of madness when it comes to voting — disenfranchised voters, uneducated election officials, and incomprehensible voting laws. To say that elections are improving in the U.S. is like saying Argentina knows how to pay off its national debt — you want to believe that statement but you know it’s just not true.

2 Jeters 1 Cup wrote an article about his experience at his polling place, an article he submitted to the DC Council, and which he said I could quote in my blog. Here are some of my favorite parts of what he wrote:

• A Spanish-language ballot on the direct-recording electronic machine was less than half programmed. A voter who chose the Spanish language option saw the election name, “presidential preference primary” and the date in Spanish. However, all other controls on the DRE, “next,” “review,” “previous” and “touch here to cast ballot” were in English, causing confusion among a number of voters, including one who accused me of telling her she “made a mistake” when I told her the review button was used if she wanted to make any changes or corrections on her choices.

• The instructions for visually-impaired voters confused the one man who used the audio system. When I listened along to see if I could offer assistance, I heard the slow-talking male voice instruct me to “touch the yellow triangle.” I wondered aloud whether District officials and Sequoia technicians realized that people who can’t see also can’t see colors.

• We ran out of ballots again in the mid-afternoon. This time, the city delivered another small batch, but said “this would be the last time,” sounding somewhat punitive. (I guess we should have discouraged people from voting?)

• As we started to run low on ballots, a voter came over after making a mistake marking her choice. Another ballot clerk, who was growing concerned over the dwindling pile of ballots, admonished the voter for “not paying attention.”

• Just before 6 p.m., at the height of the evening rush, we ran out of Democratic ballots for the third and last time. Voters started lining up behind the one method alternative for voting – using the DRE machine. About every third voter expressed concern that the machine would not count their vote. Comments reviews ranged from “cool” to “evil.” As the touch-screen clerk, I was the gatekeeper, and when tempers started to flare, they tended to flare in my direction. At the worst of the line, voters waited approximately 90 minutes to cast a ballot – after waiting 15-20 minutes to check in.

• Throughout the day, we were short on the blue index cards (for Democrats) that are handed to ballot clerks to make sure the number of voters who check in does not exceed the number of ballots cast. We resorted to using scraps of paper. At the end of the day, when we performed our counts, the scraps of paper were either bundled together with the index cards or rewritten if we had the time to do it. If the election is audited, good luck to the examiners working their way through the scraps and ripped white paper that is supposed to represent each Democratic Party voter.

• The District closes registration rolls nearly one month before elections. Voters and poll workers alike marveled at the Board of Election’s miscalculation of ballot distribution. The media, the voters and poll workers all knew a competitive primary in a politically active city with an overwhelming number of Democrats would draw a huge turnout. Yet, we ran out of ballots three times, while the same happened elsewhere in the city. Whatever formula was used to allocate ballots for the primary has to be reconsidered. It was an utter failure on Tuesday.

• The District’s closed primary – in which only registered party members can cast ballots in the election – left many confused and more than a few disappointed. A few Republicans said they wanted to vote for Sen. Barack Obama (D). Statehood/Green Party members said they weren’t expecting the ballot that they received and independents wanted to be able to vote at all.

• While the District has no requirement for voter identification, the vast majority of voters presented their drivers’ licenses or voter registration cards twice without being asked; once when checking in and again to receive their ballot.

There were some bright spots, however, 2 Jeters 1 Cup said.

When things were calm, the sense of community in the precinct was overwhelming. While some voters were understandably upset at the long lines, most said they were pleased to see the high level of interest. Some first-time voters said they really enjoyed the experience – even though many said they were disappointed they wouldn’t get to use paper ballots.”

Good luck, Wisconsin. Exercise your right to vote. Vote what’s in your heart.

Just make sure you vote.

PHOTO CREDIT