Saturday, October 27, 2007
Closing the voting machines is the biggest issue on
Election Day.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN — It’s not as easy as it looks.
That’s why each of the more than 1,000 people who serve as Mahoning County Board of Elections’ poll workers are attending mandatory two-hour-plus training sessions in preparation for the Nov. 6 general election.
At the training sessions, elections board officials go over:
UHow to start the county’s electronic touch-screen voting machines;
UWhat to do when there are disabled voters who want to cast ballots;
UMaking sure people properly vote;
UHow to address various problems and issues;
UHow to properly shut down the machines, print the results and get the information to the elections board.
The last one is the toughest, said elections Director Thomas McCabe.
It’s a small number of precincts each year that have trouble closing the machines, McCabe said, but those few cause delays in tabulating election results.
Because of that, a major focus of the training session — which includes a $10 payment to each participant — is closing the voting machines, McCabe said.
In past years, only the precinct’s presiding judge received that training. For this election, every poll worker is being trained on closing the machines.
Presiding judges are paid $115 with poll workers getting $95 for Election Day, which goes from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Nov. 6. Besides that money and the $10 for the training, they also received another $10 for a previous training session.
Not helping matters are errors in the instruction booklets given to those at the training sessions. But while being trained, the poll workers are told about the mistakes and given correct information.
Poll workers at a training session Friday said it’s a good idea for everyone to know how to close the machines. But they were a bit fuzzy when it comes to the process.
When asked if he was ready to work as a poll worker after the training, Victor Woodworth of Austintown said, “Semiready. The waters are a little muddy, but I think I’ll make it. It’s a challenge. It’s a new adventure.”
Dan Altemese of Boardman, who will work the polls for the third time, attended his second training session.
“The machines are the concern,” he said. “You don’t want to make a mistake. Closing and opening are the key issues.”
Even the poll veterans say each election is a learning process.
“There have been a lot of changes,” said Doris Rivers of Youngstown, a poll worker since 1990. “I’m still trying to catch up.”
Donna Wynn of Coitsville, a poll worker for about 20 years, wants the county to return to paper ballots, something it abandoned in 2001 for the touch-screen voting machines.
“When we had paper ballots, it was easier,” she said. “Now there’s so much more to do. Closing the machines is the toughest part.”
Raymond Butler, an elections clerk, spent about 20 minutes explaining how to properly close the machines. The poll workers then went to the machines for hands-on training.
Also, the county may need a few more poll workers, particularly Republicans, for the Nov. 6 election. Those interested may call the board at (330) 783-2474.
skolnick@vindy.com