Entries tagged as ‘Election Day/Night’
November 7, 2007 · 1 Comment
Think we can wash our hands of Election Day? I mean, it is Wednesday evening already.
Sorry to report, but Wednesday, the day after Election Day, means that our work has just begun. This election is not over until we say it’s over, days of the calendar notwithstanding.
We’re still counting a lot of remaining ballots. There were Vote by Mail ballots that arrived at the Elections Office on Monday and Tuesday, Vote by Mail ballots that were dropped off at polling places on Election Day, and provisional ballots cast at the polls. Signatures must be checked and provisional ballots carefully reconciled, all of which takes some time.
So that means that we’re still reporting race results. We posted new results on our Web site at 5 p.m. today and will do so again on Friday, the 9th at 5:00 pm and again on Tuesday, the 13th at 5:00 pm.
Some races will be affected by our continuing count. Case in point, San Bruno’s Measure F, which is currently going down by one vote. Yes, one vote. That one vote was counted today – our latest results release around 1 a.m. this morning based on votes counted yesterday showed the measure in a dead tie. Stay tuned to the bitter end; every last vote matters for this one.
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Categories: Ballots · Election Day/Night · Results · Vote By Mail · Vote counting
Tagged: counting, Election Day/Night, election results, provisional ballots, San Bruno Measure F, Vote By Mail, voter turnout
November 6, 2007 · 1 Comment
Election Day is upon us!
Poll workers were at their polling spots by 6 a.m. today to prepare for opening, but an even heartier group beat them to the punch by an hour, arriving at elections headquarters at 5 a.m. bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
They are a little-known but critical group of 104 of behind-the-scenes helpers who ensure that Election Day goes smoothly at the county’s 400 polling places. Half are field technicians, who are well-trained in all things eSlate and are dispatched to the polls to help resolve incidents and make sure that poll workers have everything they need. The other half are their assistants, called ride-along coordinators, take care of the logistics: phone calls, incident logs, directions.
Many are county employees who take a day away from work to lend a hand. And if today was any indication, they’re a mighty helpful bunch.
We spent this morning with one husband-and-wife field technician and ride-along coordinator duo – Matthew and Shirley Chidester - who were responsible for five polling spots in San Mateo and Foster City.
Most of Matthew’s field technician work involved replacing jammed printers attached to eSlates, which give you a verifiable paper trail of your vote before you cast your ballot. eSlates at two polling places required new printers, but it wasn’t anything Matthew, who works as a real property manager for San Mateo County, couldn’t handle himself or with a phone call to a help center staffed with eSlate gurus at election headquarters.
“As far as technology goes, you can’t get any simpler. Everything is spelled out for you,” Matthew said after replacing an eSlate printer at the polling place at George Hall Elementary School. “It’s very easy to do. I’ve never done that, and I did it.”
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Categories: Election Day/Night · Poll workers · Polling place · Voting · eSlates
Tagged: Election Day/Night, eSlate, Field technician, incident, poll worker, Polling place, ride-along coordinator
There are three must do’s before you head to the polls on Election Day. Not maybe do’s. Must do’s!
#1. Make informed choices. Review your Sample Ballot, talk to your friends, read the newspapers and then decide who and what you’re going to vote for on Tuesday.
#2. Double-check your polling place location. Really. More than 60 polling locations have been moved. Even Chief Election Officer Warren Slocum’s polling location was moved and he’s been voting there for the past 18 years. Think it won’t be moved? Think again!
Not sure where to find your polling location? It’s printed on the back cover of your Sample Ballot. If your polling location moved, you got a postcard indicating the new address. If that got tossed, no sweat. Just call (650) 312-5222, where there’s a phone bank operating just to help voters with questions like these.
#3. Encourage your friends and neighbors to go vote! These local races are very important to the quality of life in your community and many are decided by very small margins. The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., which gives you lots of time.
That’s it!
Categories: Election Day/Night · Polling place · Voting
Tagged: Election Day/Night, polling place location, Sample Ballot, vote
November 2, 2007 · 1 Comment
With Election Day less than 96 hours away, it’s time for hordes of supplies and electronic eSlate voting machines to get a-movin’.
Since yesterday, four Delancey Street Movers trucks have been making frequent stops at Elections headquarters on Tower Road in San Mateo, picking up 1,600 eSlates and other hefty Election Day furnishings (like tables and chairs) for drop off at polling sites throughout the county.
There are 24 routes in all - they’re doing eight a day through Monday. Elections Office field technicians follow the Delancey trucks, ensuring the equipment gets to its intended destination and locking it up for safe keeping once it arrives. The equipment will remain there until the polls open Tuesday morning.
It’s no easy job moving these eSlates, as each machine weighs 30 pounds. Do the math, and that’s 48,000 pounds of electronic voting equipment to get moving! eSlates are loaded by eight into metal racks for more efficient transport with pallet jacks.
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Categories: Election Day/Night · Polling place · eSlates
Tagged: Delancey Street Movers, Election Day/Night, eSlates, moving, supplies
October 12, 2007 · 1 Comment
Poll worker preparation for Election Day is essential, which means October is filled with mandatory classes and plenty of additional chances to brush up.
About 2,500 poll workers are attending class on election laws and procedures for Nov. 6. To accomodate that number, more than 60 classes are being offered, which is keeping our instructors plenty busy! More than 30 poll workers showed up for class this morning at the San Carlos Library.
Classes are offered by skill level and area of expertise. There are classes for rookies, graduates of this summer’s Poll Worker Academy (see previous post), and non-graduates who play a leading role at the polls as inspectors and judges. There are also classes for San Mateo County employees who help out on Election Day through our Peninsula Democracy Corps.
As we previously blogged, this is the first time that Elections Office is requiring its poll workers to sign up for their mandatory class in advance, and to aim to do so online.
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Categories: Poll workers · Training · eSlates
Tagged: Election Day/Night, Eslate lab, eSlates, mandatory classes, Poll workers, Training
Ever go to your polling place on Election Day and notice how well-supplied it is with all those little things? Probably not. You go in, you vote, and you get on with your day. But think about it.
A poll worker uses an indelible pencil to mark your name off the voter roster. Provisional ballot envelopes are at the ready. Vote! signs are tacked up on the walls outside. All those supplies to make a polling place a polling place – down to the push pins - have to come from somewhere, right?
Well, they hail from within some 30,000 square feet of warehouse space at Tower Road. There are shelves upon shelves and boxes upon boxes of pens, indelible pencils, highlighters, flags, paper clips, doorstops, paper ballot boxes, voting signs and even push pins in corks.
“It’s kind of trivial. You wouldn’t think of a cork with tacks in it,” said Howard Stovall, who oversees polling place supply distribution. “But when the poll workers are there, what do they do with this material that’s required to be displayed?”
They need tacks. And it’s Stovall’s job to make sure they have them.
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Categories: Election Day/Night · Elections Office · Polling place
Tagged: counting, Election Day/Night, Elections warehouse, Polling place, supplies
