Will voting facilities likely be swamped with people at 6 a.m.? (live in, cabin)

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by roninsedge

You know why it took so long for Virginia to count their votes, because there aren't enough people volunteering to work at the polling places. You don't want to have to wait for hours do your civic duty and work at a polling place. You get a small stipend and facilitate the participation in part of the process that makes this country great. I volunteered to work in PWC, but I was too late and couldn't work this election. I will be working the next one though.

There is not enough you could pay me to do that tedious of a workload, personally speaking. Others may not be able to do it because they would miss out on probably a day's pay at a higher wage at their real job than that stipend. If VA is serious about getting more poll workers, make it worth their while.

[roninsedge]

Originally Posted by The Dissenter

There is not enough you could pay me to do that tedious of a workload, personally speaking. Others may not be able to do it because they would miss out on probably a day's pay at a higher wage at their real job than that stipend. If VA is serious about getting more poll workers, make it worth their while.

I understand and agree with your point completely. Granted I don't think you were complaining about the amount of time it takes to vote either. I have paid time off and I want to do it because I appreciate the great process we have in our country and how easy our process is to participate in compared to other countries. You waited 4 hours in line, that isn't too bad when compared to people who walk for half a day to reach their polling place. You avoided the people handing out sample ballots, that is a lot easier to deal with than armed gunmen. You were asked for ID to vote, at least your vote will really count unlike in other countries where voter tampering is just part of the process.

Everyone please take a step back and appreciate the great system we have in place.

[spleuchan]

Originally Posted by roninsedge

You know why it took so long for Virginia to count their votes, because there aren't enough people volunteering to work at the polling places. You don't want to have to wait for hours do your civic duty and work at a polling place. You get a small stipend and facilitate the participation in part of the process that makes this country great. I volunteered to work in PWC, but I was too late and couldn't work this election. I will be working the next one though.

It took so long not because of lack of volunteers, but because there weren't enough voting machines and people were in line until 10:00. You can't start counting the votes until everyone has voted. My polling place had plenty of volunteers, just not enough machines.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by spleuchan

It took so long not because of lack of volunteers, but because there weren't enough voting machines and people were in line until 10:00. You can't start counting the votes until ever has voted. My polling place had plenty of volunteers, just not enough machines.

I agree. There are always enough volunteers when I vote. One or two people checking in A-L. One or two people checking in M-Z. One person telling you where to go and one person handing you a sticker when you're done. Anytime I have encountered a backup was because there were not enough machines or booths to keep up with the line of people.

[CAVA1990]

Agree, it's not volunteers but machines. They seem to have provisioned them for mid-term and off-year elections.

[Yankeesfan]

Originally Posted by roninsedge

I understand and agree with your point completely. Granted I don't think you were complaining about the amount of time it takes to vote either. I have paid time off and I want to do it because I appreciate the great process we have in our country and how easy our process is to participate in compared to other countries. You waited 4 hours in line, that isn't too bad when compared to people who walk for half a day to reach their polling place. You avoided the people handing out sample ballots, that is a lot easier to deal with than armed gunmen. You were asked for ID to vote, at least your vote will really count unlike in other countries where voter tampering is just part of the process.

Everyone please take a step back and appreciate the great system we have in place.

The county is always scrambling to find enough election officers before each election. They are required to be evenly distributed between the two parties as much as possible to protect the integrity of the process.

Regarding complaints about the lack of machines, paper ballots go MUCH faster. Multiple people can be filling out their paper ballots at the same time and then it only takes seconds to insert one into the scanner. Whereas with the machines it takes a few minutes for each voter to go up, punch in each selection, verify the selections, and push the vote button. Over the course of a day those minutes add up. So if you want to speed up the process, choose a paper ballot. My precinct had lines for each type and I was surprised and puzzled by how many people chose the machine line even though it was much longer and moving more slowly than the paper line.

Now the next question will be, then why don't we only do paper ballots? I don't remember the reason but there is a federal law, I think, requiring that both options be available.

This is a budget issue. The counties could invest in more equipment but the maximum quantity would only be needed every four years, due to lower participation in the off years, and the legal requirements and technology might change and require something else four yars later. So as with everything else there's a cost-benefit analysis. Money spent on this would be taken from something else, and then people would complain about the lack of whatever those other things are.

The lines also vary from place to place. Precincts with a lot of retirees, telecommuters, or at-home parents have their voters arrive more steadily throughout the day. Precincts made up primarily of commuting families will have more intense concentrations early and late. My precinct had long lines in the morning and long lines again at night but moderate lines during the day. Two of my friends were able to breeze in and out pretty quickly after work because more people had voted during the day. Different demographics. I imagine PW's long lines were because so many DC commuters had to leave too early to vote in the morning so they all rushed in at the end of the day.

I'm not saying we can't and shouldn't make changes, but there are reasons that need to be considered for various issues that people are bringing up. It's healthy to have discussions of them.

And once again, props and thanks to anyone who served as an Election Officer!

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

Now the next question will be, then why don't we only do paper ballots? I don't remember the reason but there is a federal law, I think, requiring that both options be available.

The more practical reason is that the tabulation process is more efficient and accurate with machines.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by CAVA1990

The more practical reason is that the tabulation process is more efficient and accurate with machines.

While I agree with you, these paper ballots aren't for people to handwrite in names. You fill in an oval, just like every standardized test you took in school. I imagine these are fed though a machine for tabulation. Not too inefficient, I would think.

[Flamingo13]

Originally Posted by spencgr

While I agree with you, these paper ballots aren't for people to handwrite in names. You fill in an oval, just like every standardized test you took in school. I imagine these are fed though a machine for tabulation. Not too inefficient, I would think.

Mine were squares - not ovals - Actually correction: they were more rectangles

[sullyguy]

Mine were ovals - and the ballots were tabulated on site BY each voter as each voter fed them into a tabulating machine - instant as the video voting.

Based on how long it took people to use the electronic voting method, I'd say the paper ballots had less "fear" driving their use - people might be afraid of "doing something wrong" with the electronic machines since their ACTUAL use was pretty straightforward - though perhaps not as straightforward as the paper ballots. I've used both methods, paper thistime because we were prewarned about the line for electronic, and it for SURE took me MUCH less time to fill in a few ovals than it did to push some touchscreens and hit "Next", then finally "Vote".

And my vocation AND avocation for 30+ years has been programming...