a machine that i could accept. a worms eye view.

[mopinko]

after serving as a judge in chicago, and seeing this stuff in real time, i can only say- what an education. now i understand why election officials shake their head and tell you there will never be a perfect election.

most of the training that we got was so centered on the damn machines, that there was almost no info on election law. this is one of the most tragic aspects of these machines. they just gum up the works something awful. we got 3 hours of training, that is just not gonna stick. of our 5 judges, 2 were virgins, 2 had worked 2 election, and the 3rd had worked 3. we had a polling place administrator, a college kid, (which was all that they recruited for this- they got paid 5 times what the judges got.) she especially did not know anything about election rules, even as they related to what she was supposed to do. like, she was not supposed to do the totals and transmission, but thought she was, and did. in both precincts.
of the 5 judges in my precinct, none of them really new half the things i know about elections from hanging around here. but since it was my first election, they didn't listen to me too much. the other precinct had 2 judges that were old hands. if i had it to do over, i would have tried to get one of them to switch. but they were there for me to consult, and get some back up on things.

each of the 2 precincts had a person of borderline intelligence. the one in mine was something else, a bible-addled bush voter. she kept saying the same thing over and over while chatting with me. we finally figured out that she was the perfect person to hand out the ballots, and give the instructions. the one in the other precinct gave them some real trouble, wandering around, and totally not understanding the process. at least all of ours were sober and clean. i think. one took several breaks to "take some medicine" and kept saying how her mom must have given her her cold, cuz her nose was running. she seemed fine, tho, and did her job. but, first of all, these people were citizens. second, there are a heck of a lot of judges needed in a place like chicago.
but ya know, it was kind of a marvel. i only had one cranky voter, the first one, who had his shorts in a twist because we were still scurrying to open at 6:02. i settled him down by telling him, sir, we are just ordinary citizens here, practically volunteers, trying to do our duty. by the third time i said it, he had his ballot, and he shut up and voted.

anyway, i know this is rambling a bit. i am still tired!

but, here is what i thought about the machines-
it's a shame they can't be trusted. i had 3 blind voters. 2 came in alone. they were pretty glad to be able to vote alone. i would be, too. i also had a little old fellow that was probably hmong. i did the best i could to help him, but he really had a hard time. a machine that could speak all the languages spoken in chicago, which i think it pretty much all of them, would enfranchise a huge number of people that probably don't vote.
what i think would be ok- these machines should just mark a paper ballot, exactly like the other paper ballots, spit it out for the voter to check, and counted along with the other paper ballots. i suppose it might be sticky if it was allowed to make a small change or 2 and print a second ballot if you wanted, but that would be a real service, too. we had many, many voters who goofed on one race, and just let it go rather than fill out another one of our huge, long ballots. those votes would have been captured if they could have pushed a couple of buttons, and spit out a corrected ballot.

i remember that there was a guy who invented a good machine, then died in a one car crash. is this what his did?

[aquart]

1. Print braille ballots. Not that damn hard. They print braille books.

Problem solved. NO need to use those damn machines.

Sorry, the handicapped angle really doesn't fly.

[mopinko]

2. in chicago, the language angle does

it really broke my heart that that little old man had such a hard time. we had spanish and chinese materials, but that is it.
in this ward along there are about 40 languages spoken. obviously a lot of people who have come here and become citizens have learned english. but a lot only learn enough to get through the citizenship process.

but- braille ballots are fine, but how do you make sure you didn't make a mistake- the voter will be using a pencil.

[Blue State Blues]

5. Not all blind people read braille

and these days, I think, most blind people do not read braille. Macular degeneration and other problems cause vision impairment among the elderly, many (most?) of whom do not learn braille. I can't imagine learning a new way to read at 85, especially if I had arthritis in my fingers or diminished sensation.

On the other hand, the current "fix" creates a system where no one's vote is secure, which is unacceptable to all voters, sighted or vision-impaired.

IMO, each polling place should have at least 1 (and more if necessary) machine that prepares a paper ballot for those with challenges in vision, motor-skills, or language. As long as at the end of the process, the ballot of record is a paper ballot, just like everyone else's.

[Warpy]

3. Hmong people can be tough to deal with

because their culture is so wildly different from ours.

I'd really love to know what their superstitions are. I was never able to show them how to use a flush toilet, they'd insist on squatting over a bedpan on the floor in the bathroom. They'd empty it themselves, but they would not sit on that seat.

I'm not surprised the poor guy had trouble. They're wonderful people, but they're utterly baffled by a technologically advanced culture. Their kids are the ones who have to pick it up and then lead the parents around.

[mopinko]

4. he was so cute.

he tried so hard. but i really could not get through to him that he had to make a strong, solid mark. i showed him on the sample ballot three times. he only had a few candidates that he wanted to vote for. i don't know how many counted.
we were so busy. if it had been slower, i would have taken more time with him. we had access to translators, if you could get through to the number. but i tell ya, we all ran our asses off. it was barely controlled chaos.
honestly, i have so much more respect for the people who run elections. but then, we have one of the most goo-goo people ever in charge of ours. hard to believe, i know. (which is not to say perfect. especially out in the red edge. the thugs out there do their best to keep their own people in the polling places.)