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04 February 2008
Look Behind the Scenes in a Presidential Primary Election
A volunteer recaps how the system works in a Florida county precinct
Viera, Florida -- The morning sun was not yet up when I entered the building to join nine other citizens to serve as an election official at one of thousands of Florida’s voting precincts during the U.S. presidential preference primary.
We had one busy hour to prepare -- post signs, set up portable voting booths and electronic ballot boxes, place the registers of eligible voters on the check-in tables, assemble ballots in privacy folders, and take the oath of office to perform our duties honestly and impartially.
The doors opened to voters at 7 a.m. and remained open for 12 hours. All day there was a steady stream of citizens casting ballots for their favorite presidential candidate, a proposed amendment to the state constitution on property tax exemptions and a referendum on limiting increases on tax revenues.
Florida is a “closed primary” state, meaning voters must belong to one of the two major political parties to vote for one of that party’s presidential candidates. Registered Republicans received different ballots from registered Democrats. Independents or citizens who declared no party affiliation received a third ballot, listing only the two tax issues.
This procedure differs from that of “open primary” states, such as New Hampshire, where a voter can use any ballot he or she wishes. In those state, “spoilers” sometimes vote for the weakest candidate in the opposing party to undercut a leading candidate.
THE MECHANICS OF FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS
During my 12-hour shift I checked in voters, escorted them to voting booths and ensured they correctly deposited their ballots in the box.
The register book lists alphabetically all eligible voters living within the precinct boundaries. After showing identification and signing the register book, voters receive a ballot inside a folder to ensure the privacy of their vote.
Citizens who recently became residents of the precinct and were not listed in the register book had to bring with them a paper signed by an elections official certifying they were registered appropriately at their former locations. Their names then were written into the book and they received ballots.
The heavy paper ballots had oval marks next to each listed presidential candidate on the respective political party ballots, and next to “yes” and “no” for consideration of the tax issues. Voters used special marking pens at each voting booth to fill in the ovals completely.
Voters deposited their ballots in the electronic box, officially known as the AccuVote Optical Scan Unit, which read the oval markings and tallied the votes. As the citizens left the voting area, they received small stickers declaring “I voted” to wear on their clothing.
If a voter mismarked a ballot by filling in ovals next to more than one candidate’s name, the machine rejected the ballot with an “overvoted” message. In such cases the ballots were judged “spoiled” (invalid) and the voter received a new ballot. The number of spoiled ballots was tracked for record-keeping purposes.
An AccuVote touch-screen unit with audio and video capabilities was available for handicapped voters. Plastic cards containing ballot information activated an interactive screen that voters could touch to make their selections.
As soon as the polls closed, the leader of our team -- known in Florida as the precinct clerk -- began shutting down the operation. The ballot box printed a paper tape that reported the total number of ballots cast and the number of votes for each candidate and for each side of the proposed amendment and the referendum. The number of voters who signed the registration book had to be tallied, as did the number of ballots issued (less the spoiled ones). The tallies for ballots cast, voters and ballots issued were checked to ensure they matched.
The precinct clerk then reported the results to the county supervisor of elections. As required by law, the voting tally sheet was posted on the entrance door of the building for all citizens to read. The precinct register book, unused ballots and other important items were packed up to be returned to the county election headquarters. With those tasks completed, my long day was over.
Prior to moving to Florida, I lived in Maryland, where I also served as an Election Day official. The equipment and terminology differed, but the process was similar and the goal the same: encouraging all citizens to exercise their right to vote.
