I participated in more than my share of democracy today. I was up at 5:30am so I could drive to my first poll this morning and be there at 6am. It was pretty much go-time solid from that point until I got home at 10pm tonight. I have all sorts of wonderful stories that I hope I won’t forget before posting (like the election clerk who was so repulsed by the odor of one morbidly obese voter that she had to excuse herself from the poll) as well as snapshots of all the precincts that were “mine”. Short summary — I was a roving technician. Sort of a cross between a technical consultant and a portable K-Mart. I had spares of everything the Clerks were given (or, I was supposed to have spares anyway) so I could replace anything that was missing or broken.
My ex-neighbor who recommended me for the job saw me this evening back at the warehouse where all the ballots and supplies were being brought back and said she was so glad I had helped out because she just new my technical skills would come in handy. I informed her that the task that I accomplished today that most draw on my prior technical skills (besides talking with folks about why electronic ballots are insecure) was clearing a paper jam for an optical scanner. Yup, 13 precincts, 16 hours later and I cleared a paper jam.
Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, would gladly do it again (once I had a week of straight sleep to be rested up again), and I was able to help a lot of people. But most of that came because I was level-headed, used common sense, and would pass off tricks and knowledge gained at one precinct as if it were some innate skill at the next. You see why I referred to myself as part-consultant.
Final mileage on my car? 149.1 miles for the day according to my trip odometer. It felt like more than that.
[...] For example, Alachua County uses optical scan ballots, similar to the systems used in standardized tests: the voter marks an oval with pen on paper, then the paper is scanned into an electronic reader. The physical ballots thus are available for re-scanning or hand recount. In addition, each precinct is equipped with a touch-screen machine, available to any voter upon request (primarily for disabled voters). The touch-screens do not produce a paper ballot or receipt. (Our own Eldo Varghese was a precinct’s touch-screen assistant in the 2007 Gainesville city elections, and our Jordan Wiens managed the touch-screens at several precincts in the November 2006 elections.) [...]
Left by Florida Free Culture » Legislature 2007: E-voting on March 25th, 2007