These days at elections headquarters it’s like a sea of red, white and blue. And this isn’t a metaphor for our stirrings of patriotism as the Feb. 5 Presidential Primary fast approaches.
Literally, the warehouse is awash in color as red supply suitcases, white Judge’s Booth Controller boxes and blue paper ballot boxes are lined up in neat stacks row after row, at the ready for Election Day deployment. (Judge’s Booth Controllers – or JBCs – are the machines that poll workers operate to control the eSlates.)
It’s tough to visualize, so let the photos help.
There are 448 stacks of red, white and blue placed on squares marked on the floor, each square numbered by precinct. Beginning Friday, but mostly on Saturday, chief poll workers - called inspectors – will come to the Elections Office to pick up the red suitcases, white JBCs and blue ballot boxes for their precinct. Seventeen vans will also be dispatched across the county to make home deliveries. Inspectors will keep the items at their home and then bring them to the polls in the wee hours of Election Day morning.
In case that makes you wonder about security or rogue poll workers, rest easy. Every item is barcoded and numbered, locked with tamper-evident seals, and accompanied by a chain-of-custody log that multiple people must review and sign. Before the polls open on Election Day morning, two poll workers other than the inspector must check out all numbers and seals, and sign off that nothing that was in the inspector’s possession was tampered with.
Today, elections folk were adding supplies last minute, as well as doing final checks on the seals and ensuring that all barcodes and numbers on each item match our records.
“It’s tedious, but it has to be done,” said Roberto Ana, who was helping with the process.
