DEAR EDITOR:
On Tuesday I had the privilege of working at one of the county’s
polling places as an elections clerk. It was a mostly positive and
rewarding experience, and I feel fortunate in having been allowed
to participate.
DEAR EDITOR:
On Tuesday I had the privilege of working at one of the county’s polling places as an elections clerk. It was a mostly positive and rewarding experience, and I feel fortunate in having been allowed to participate. I say, “mostly positive,” because, typical of the cross section of humanity in our daily lives, there were a few people that didn’t view the change to the “touch-screen” voting machine as a good thing. There was some uncertainty on the part of some of the voters at not being given a voting stub to verify their having voted at all. In other words, they felt it possible that either their vote was never registered, or that their vote could have been distorted.
In my opinion, this process is not only more reliable than previous systems, it is also more user friendly. I say this as an amateur because, I don’t have any experience in counting chads and indentations on the old punch cards, but from what I’ve been able to observe this system avoids that defect.
Addressing the first question, that of guaranteeing that each vote counts, I assure you, dear reader, that what comes into the polling place as a concept in the mind of a voter, indeed comes out as a valid and verified vote, if the voter records it correctly. The fail-safe measures taken by the system are manifold and are reinforced many times as back-up counts are taken from several sources with real people double-checking machines and impartial machines double-checking the real people. Seals and counter seals, signatures and counter signatures, reviews and re-reviews are part of the process.
As to the second question, in the old system, once a card was punched, there was no possibility of “correcting” one’s vote short of pulling the card out of the machine, going to the clerk, admitting error, getting a new card, and attempting the process all over again. Most voters would ignore their mistake rather than risk repeating it.
With the “touch screen” method, the voter is allowed to review their work and make as many corrections as they desire. It is only when their preference is correctly represented that they terminate the process and leave the booth. Simplicity is the key to accuracy, and for anyone who has operated a computer, an ATM machine, or even a telephone, this process is wonderfully simple.
Another positive feature of working the polling place is the chance I had to meet many old friends and establish some delightful new associations. I say all this with reservation, because I’m afraid if I oversell the experience, everyone in town will sign up for the job and in November I won’t be called back repeat it.
Bob Winter, Gilroy
Submitted Wednesday, March 3 to ed****@****ic.com
