Service targets should be part of the next voter bill of rights. What if the wait is more than 30 minutes? Put Plan B into action.
My polling station in Prince George's County, MD had an hour-long-wait, which I have never seen in 16 years of voting in this precinct. Despite (?) the wait, turnout was 43%, lower than it was at the last midterm.
The election staffing model is broken. We need to think about using other source of on-demand trained gov't workers. Like the National Guard? How about firemen and paramedics? The Marines always have a lot of soldiers running the Marine Corps Marathon.
We had a complicated ballot and hot Governor's and Senate races. Our computers had no straight-ticket option.... Last time we had Ehrlich running an organized campaign against a third-generation Kennedy running a shambles. Papa Joe would have disowned her. So GOTV wasn't great last time. This time we had Steele stirring the pot. Still our 2006 turnout was lower!!
Plan B?
1) Allow voters in line to complete absentee ballots and hand them in at the precinct.
2) Direct voters to old-style punch card or voting machines available at the polling station. I wonder where all those old machines are now...