This Diary series is intended to collect OUR knowledge and experience. Please read the previous diaries for grounding. And, in your comments, please share your practical knowledge.
Let's consider three issues today:
1. How does your county's election supervision interact with your state laws and regulations?
2. What sort of monitoring is already built in, and who really controls it?
3. How does any existing monitoring relate to the system of poll workers?
More Below The Fold.
Previous Diaries In This Series:
Honest Voting #1
Honest Voting #2
Other Recent Diaries:
Taking Back Our Elections
Summer Voter Drives
Voting Rights
Voting Machine Manipulation
Regarding the first issue, consider this article from The Nation:
No one who paid close attention to the last two presidential elections can doubt that, come election time, secretaries of state play pivotal, sometimes defining, roles. Though most Americans would be hard-pressed to name the holder of the office that manages elections in their home state, after 2000 everyone knew that Secretary of State Katherine Harris was in charge of deciding who voted and whose votes counted in Florida. And after 2004 everyone knew that Secretary of State Ken Blackwell was doing similar duty in Ohio. These two "down ballot" officials served as co-chairs for George W. Bush's campaign in their respective states, but the real "service" they performed for the Republican cause came in what critics have identified as their aggressive manipulation of voting registration standards, unequal distribution of voting machines, intimidation of prospective voters and meddling with recount procedures to favor Bush.
Fair Vote Article: The Nation (Subscription)
2. What sort of monitoring is already built in, and who really controls it?
Many counties/parishes (there are about 3,141 in total around the country) already allow for each party to supply monitors. Is that true where you are? If so, you will want to have a talk with the party leaderships and find out what their experiences are. Some areas only allow monitors when there are recounts. Does the election supervisor have veto on any individuals proposed by the parties? What about Independents, and third parties, if they want to monitor: is it allowed?
3. How does any existing monitoring relate to the system of poll workers?
Many comments in previous diaries, and Graff4Dean's diary, talked about poll workers - the people who actually staff the voting sites. This is an "inside" job, which might provide a good point of view on procedures at one or several polling stations. Whether it provides the overview you want is an open question. Many areas are consolidating precinct polls and doing with fewer poll workers, who tend to be the elderly, and have been hard to come by. In practice, I hear from acquaintances who have done it, that it is actually a mind-numbing 12 to 14 hour task, often thankless, and with more responsibility than power. What do you think?
Next Week: Forming A Balanced Posse For Effectiveness