The writer is an elections specialist with the League of Women Voters of New York State.
Tensions are running high in this campaign season and turn-out for the mid-term election probably will be much larger than usual. Keeping in mind the complaints about the new voting system at the time of the primary, citizens can help by being proactive in preparing to use the paper ballot-optical scan voting system. For example:
Videos and brochures: If you have access to the web, review the voting process by using the videos on the state or county Board of Elections websites (e.g., go to Voter Education at www.elections.state.ny.us or at the site for the NY State League of Women Voters: www.lwvny.org . The League and some counties also have provided brochures about the new system.
Instructions at the polling place: Take time to study the large copy of the ballot as well as voting instructions posted on your way into the polling place.
Many voters in the primary elections had problems with the small print on the ballot. Citizens’ groups are asking the state legislature to revise the ballot lay-out rules so that they are more user-friendly. For this election, however, you need to take steps to make sure that you can see what you are doing.
Be sure to bring your glasses. If they are not enough, ask for the magnifying aid, OR
Ask to use the `Ballot Marking Device` (BMD). The BMD provides various aids for those with special needs (e.g., audio presentation of the ballot through earphones, a screen allowing enlarging the text, alternative languages; and aids for those with limited dexterity or mobility). The BMD allows you to make your selections using whatever devices you need. In counties using the Image-Cast machine, the BMD then will print your ballot with your choices.
Most voters, including those in counties using the AutoMark BMD, will be given a pre-printed ballot torn from a bound book after they sign the poll book. The stub for each ballot is numbered and is retained by the inspectors so that every ballot is accounted for. This number is not on your ballot, so the secrecy of your vote is protected.
Insist on being given a `privacy folder` to conceal your ballot until you submit it to the scanner.
Select a location in the polling place that gives you as much privacy as possible while marking the ballot. Relax about this; it is highly unlikely that someone would read your ballot from a distance. Ask for a chair if you want to sit down.
You have a right to insert your own marked ballot into the scanner, but may ask the inspector to do this, keeping the ballot covered except for the top edge. The scanner will read your ballot no matter what side is up. Wait a moment to see the small screen tell you that your ballot has been counted. If you have chosen more candidates in a particular race than is allowed (`overvoted`), the screen will tell you and you have the option of asking for a new ballot so that your vote in that contest is counted.
An optional review: If you want to double-check that the scanner is correctly reading your choices, you must tell the inspector BEFORE submitting the ballot to the scanner. The inspector will set up your review and then step back to allow you privacy.
Do not expect a paper receipt showing how your vote was counted; good election practice forbids this so that others cannot ask you to prove that you voted as they told you.
There are additional pre- and post-election ways in which citizens can be pro-active. For example, at the closing of the polls they can read the `results tape,` a print-out from the scanner that is to be posted at the poll site. They also can inquire about the audits of the scanners that the Boards of Elections will be doing. All of these `pro-activities` will help to develop confidence in the many checks and balances built into this new system.
Above all, be patient with the election inspectors. The equipment has been used only a few times. While the system is quite simple for the voter, most inspectors still need to use printed guides when opening and closing the polls or setting up the BMD. You can ease the long Election Day for the workers by doing your own part to learn about the voting process.
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