The election went very badly. As a poll worker, I know that better than anybody. Really. It was awful. Because of this, they decided to keep the polls open late (“Problems, delays keep the polls open” Nov. 4). That was not a good idea. It fixed nothing. Many of the problems were blamed on the new technology. But that wasn’t the real issue, per se. I hear some locations gave up on the new machines and reverted to paper because they couldn’t get the printers hooked up. But that’s human error and inadequate training. The training was, indeed, inadequate. Only about half the poll workers – the precinct managers and deputies – were trained on the complete setup. It was assumed the regular precinct officials wouldn’t need to know.
That was a bad call, especially since some of the managers and deputies – older, hard-working, honest and experienced personnel – were not very technically savvy. I know. I met them in class, and tried to reassure them that they could do it, even if they’d never owned a computer.
I was a poll worker in precinct 5-G and we liked the machines. Our problem was the redistricting. The lines between 5-G and 5-H had been redrawn, and suddenly our tiny little precinct nearly tripled in size. Also, although the Board of Elections insists that it sent out notification on Oct. 5, the voters whose polling location had changed were not properly notified. (Somebody messed up royally. They might want to think about finding out who.) Hundreds of people turned up at our precinct already annoyed because they had gone somewhere else first.
Read More On the front lines of an awful election.