Election Judge perspective: Counting ballots by hand is insane to do in 2024
Election Judge perspective: Counting ballots by hand is insane to do in 2024
What it's really like for Election Judges on Election Night (in Chicago)
Update on Sept. 25: In an earlier version of this post, there was an error stating that Georgia Election Judges would have to count votes by hands. They have to count the ballots, not the actual votes. Still tedious. While it is easy enough to count the initial contact form that voters fill out when they come in, adding a count of ballots on top of that is equally annoying. Click here for more new (and ridiculous) rules. New Hampshire's electronic school IDs is the only one I agree with.
I could feel the glare from the Asian, 30-something man in front of me, and I tried to ignore it at first. There are no bosses when it comes to Election Judges. Sure, we have poll watchers who may pop in to snoop on us as we work and visitors (including our aldermen’s staff) who stop by our polling station to bring boxes of pizza, drinks and baked goods. We were happy to have them come back again with more “we appreciate what you’re doing” surprises.
Whether you’re a Cell Phone Judge, a Key Judge, an Election Judge, a Bilingual Judge or an Election Coordinator, we are all at the same level. We just sit in different spaces, and one of us has a few extra keys on our keychains.
Still, this guy decided I must be in charge and wanted me to do something about the Election Judge who had assigned herself to be the handwriting police.
As soon as voters entered the lobby area of the park facility, she’d triple check their signature on the voting forms that I was handing out versus the signature shown in the Electronic Poll Books. I thought it was overkill, and she clearly had no certification with the American Board of Forensic Document Examiners (ABFDE).
Recommended Read: “How being an election judge made me appreciate politics more ~ Enjoy politics? Sign up to be an Election Judge or Coordinator”
But it made her feel important, so I shrugged and quietly observed her doing this. It wasn’t until one guy (white) was noticeably offended and hissed, “Are you challenging my signature?” that I thought, “OK, I’m going to have to intervene eventually.” And that’s when the glare from his friend happened.
CALENDAR REMINDERS FOR GEORGIA VOTERS
Registration deadline: October 7
Absentee ballot request deadline: October 25
Early voting starts: Statewide October 15
Election Day: November 5
All right, I guess it’ll have to be sooner rather than later. The line I was monitoring had slowed down, so I walked over to where she was standing, looked at both signatures and politely said, “Looks the same to me. How ‘bout you?”
“Yeah, I guess,” she said, clearly sounding skeptical. “We don’t want anybody double voting!”
The deep sigh and eye roll happened before I could stop myself before I returned to my original spot. I gave a half-hearted smile to the annoyed friend, who moved down the line. This kind of experience is all it takes to frustrate voters and other Election Judges on what should be a pretty seamless process.
Election Judges are already required to arrive at their poll stations by 5 a.m., and we can’t leave until everything is counted and put away — especially if you’re a Key Judge.
To make matters more complicated, the Electronic Poll Books must be properly closed down, and the Transfer Case must include all of the following:
Certificate of Results
Damaged Ballots
Spoiled Ballots
Write-In Ballots
Voted Ballots (in sealed plastic bag)
Morning Zero Tape
Then, the Black Return Bag must include:
Modem
Ballot Scanner Security Key
Poll Worker Card
Memory Cards
Verizon Jetpack
First Copy of the Official Results Tape
Results Transmission Tape
Two E-Poll Books
ESC Keys and Seal Cutters
Broken/Used Seal Bags
If you’re a regular Election Judge, after a while, you can do this without thinking about it. But it’s overwhelming as a first-timer to try to figure out what goes where and operate the machines. (There is a one-day training to show all judges how to work the machines, but it’s totally different when you’re doing it in real time.)
And you’re not able to start sorting all the paperwork or shutting down machines until every single voter is gone and the door is officially closed at 7 p.m. The first time I was an Election Judge, I didn’t leave until about 10 p.m., and I still had to be one of two judges to go to the Receiving Station to turn in this equipment. I got home around 11 p.m. (Again, we arrived at 5 a.m.)
Now, imagine having to do all of that sorting, dealing with colorful personalities (both voters and judges), and trying to make sure all voting is done correctly — and then have to count votes by hand.
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Recommended Read on Amazon
I do not envy Georgia Election Judges. I know what it was like to be an Election, Key and Cell Phone Judge a couple of times in Illinois. There’s no way in the world I’d even humor the idea of volunteering to be a judge for a place like Fulton County (if I lived there).
Recommended Read: “48 hours after Biden wins, black women get shunned again — Eva Longoria, know your stats before you dismiss black women”
ADVERTISEMENT ~ Recommended Read on Amazon
The goal is confusion and to avoid turning in electoral votes
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis may be getting under Donald Trump’s skin for wanting to take him to court in regard to his actions in 2020. But Republican-led Election Boards are going out of their way to make sure Willis (and supporters of VP Kamala Harris) never get to see what would happen in December with Trump in court for election interference. In fact, they’re creating more election interference to control the presidential election turnout.