| Author |
Message |
    
TomR
Citizen
Username: Tomr
Post Number: 1135
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 9:08 pm: | 
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I don't normally vote in primary elections, but due to a number of reasons decided that this was one of the occasions on which I would do so.
So, I'm wondering. Was the inordinate amount of time that some people spend in the voting booth caused by: their making a decision while they are in the booth; or, did those people find the new machines so confusing that it took them that long to figure it out.
If its the first possibility, its just something with which we have to live. Five minutes strikes me as a long time to make a final decision on something that each of us should have been thinking about for a while. But in the grand scheme of things, I can wait the five minutes for somebody to make a reasoned decision before voting.
As to the second possibility. I hope that none of these people found it appropriate to make jokes about the Floridians, or others, who couldn't follow the instructions on how to cast a ballot a few years ago.
As I entered the polling room, a person just exiting warned me that the machines were, gasp electronic!
I gotta wonder; has that person been living in a cave, deprived of all print and electronic media? Was it really news to them that new voting machines were being used for this primary? Am I on a special mailing list that got me detailed instructions, and a sample ballot, from the Essex County Commissioner of Registration?
Maybe some minimal qualifications for voting aren't such a bad idea.
Just thinking out loud here in Maplewood.
TomR |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 7956
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:01 pm: |
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I did take longer than usual because it is a new machine. I actually found it difficult to read the names. Too dark & not enough contrast. The screen was too "far away" to read without taking off my glasses (old eyes). I can deal with the electronic. But I miss looking straight ahead and the lighting needs to improve. |
KRNL
Citizen
Username: Krnl
Post Number: 72
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:09 pm: |
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The screen on my new machine seemed to be wavy--making the print fuzzy and out of focus! And, the print is pretty small. (I tried with/without glasses, etc. and still couldn't make out some of the print!)
And, I could barely see, much less read, the lower part of the screen where the Republicans were. (I'm only 5'4""--what a challenge it must be for those over 6'!!)
These machines are going to be a real treat when we have propositions to vote on.
And, we didn't even get our sample ballots for this election! (Thanks Maplewood Post Office--I know we didn't get a mail delivery 2 times this month--at last I've found that stuff is really missing!)
On the bright side--no lines. It is worth it to go exercise our right to vote and learn about the new machines.
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Dogbert
Citizen
Username: Dogbert
Post Number: 108
Registered: 1-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:12 pm: |
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I agree about the height. I suspect they are set at wheelchair height and everyone else is expected to "bend over." |
Factvsfiction
Citizen
Username: Factvsfiction
Post Number: 619
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:17 pm: |
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I thought the voters were generally asked to " bend over" AFTER an election.
Not during. |
ajc
Citizen
Username: Ajc
Post Number: 5160
Registered: 9-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, June 6, 2006 - 10:30 pm: |
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...before, during, or after. It doesn't matter where you do it, voting is the gift that keeps giving! |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14637
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 4:53 pm: |
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TomR, I've been working in the technology field for 21 years. I'm not afraid of it, and I don't learn it slowly. This machine is hard to use. I had trouble using mine, and that slowed me down.
I changed my vote a few times in the booth, and it took a few tries to realize I have to press a button to uncheck my selection before I can choose a new selection.
I am a Democrat and therefore voted for a Democrat, and while fiddling with the machine, I tried to switch my vote. I couldn't, and that took a while. It was because my experiment was to choose a Republican. It wasn't clear that it WAS a Republican. I think that's because the row was so low.
Also, the button for "cast your vote", which replaces the giant lever, is not easy to find. The poll worker warned me, but the fact that it was necessary for her to do that says something about the machine's design.
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Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9806
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 5:33 pm: |
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The design is garbage.
Actually, I know what to do with garbage, so that's a bad analogy. |
BGS
Supporter
Username: Bgs
Post Number: 1054
Registered: 10-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 6:44 pm: |
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Alright- so something must be wrong with me....I understood the directions given to me in District 17 very well and had no problems voting. I personally thought that it was an easy process.
Barbara Savino |
ffof
Citizen
Username: Ffof
Post Number: 4754
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, June 8, 2006 - 6:52 pm: |
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I agree. Our poll workers were very informed and showed us the whole set up before we officially went in. Easy as pie (Not to mention, I made a pie yesterday, and it was really easy too!) |
mjh
Supporter
Username: Mjh
Post Number: 596
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 6:18 am: |
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The poll worker at my voting booth was asleep when my son and I arrived and tried to hand her our ticket. I woke her up. She didn't offer any instructions, and I went in without remembering the set-up was going to be different.
It took a couple of minutes to figure it out. I didn't think it was self-evident at all. |
Larry Seltzer
Citizen
Username: Elvis
Post Number: 32
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 8:28 am: |
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I don't think it was hard, but I have to agree it wasn't handled well. Especially for a low-turnout election like this they should have been proactive, warn everyone as they signed in that there were new machines and ask them if they wanted a demonstration. It's no butterfly ballot, but I would assume that older people who have been voting with the mechanicals all their lives would be at least a little confused.
I didn't see a sample machine like they used to have with the mechanicals but I didn't search the room. Did they have them? |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14644
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 8:39 am: |
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Come to think of it, I didn't receive a sample ballot in the mail! Did everyone else? The county board of elections sends them out, normally.
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Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6494
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 8:54 am: |
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Yes Tom, I got a sample ballot on the Friday before the election. |
jem
Citizen
Username: Jem
Post Number: 1563
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 9:15 am: |
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We got sample ballots in the mail here, too. I was very apprehensive about the new machines, but I found them very simple to use.
In district 3, where we vote, there was a young woman working the polls whom I observed telling every single voter who signed in exactly how to use the machines. She started each time with "Do you know that there are new machines?" and then she described how they work, using the sample ballot as she spoke. She also told each voter that if they had questions once they were in the booth, all they had to do was ask.
She may not have been there for the entire time - poll workers are entitled to breaks - but she was certainly there most of the day. She told me that all the poll workers had gone to be trained about the new machines, and she very obviously took the training and her job as a poll worker seriously. |
C Bataille
Citizen
Username: Nakaille
Post Number: 2651
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 10:17 am: |
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I was expecting a demo as above but instead got a "Do you have any questions?" Me: "Uh, no." I thought it was pretty straightforward and my kid found the "Cast your vote" button quickly. It was an okay height for me (being vertically challenged anyway) and I assumed it met standards for wheelchair accessibility. I'm not familiar with candidates standing so close to voting machines and started to introduce myself to one (the worker had stepped away from the table and I didn't know who was who) and was startled when he said he was a candidate. Is it only their supporters who have to be a certain distance? Or was he acting as a monitor? Disquieting, at any rate. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 7576
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 1:58 pm: |
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I had a little trouble trying to figure out how to make my selections of candidates. The person at the voting machine talked me through the process and it didn't too long to figure out which box (among all the boxes on the screen) I had to press to make each green check mark appear. I had no problem with visibility, lighting, contrast, or ballot height from the floor. Perhaps different polling locations had different lighting issues. |
Andrew Zorn
Citizen
Username: Andrewzorn
Post Number: 203
Registered: 1-2002
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 2:46 pm: |
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It was a bit odd to be able to see over the top of the booth while voting, and to watch the people come and go. Kind of like using a public toilet without a door, but not quite. |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9829
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 2:48 pm: |
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What are they doing with the old booths? I'd like one. |
buzzsaw
Citizen
Username: Buzzsaw
Post Number: 4969
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 2:55 pm: |
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^ I see some dadaist art........... |
Duncan
Supporter
Username: Duncanrogers
Post Number: 6501
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Friday, June 9, 2006 - 3:00 pm: |
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I want one too. What a great prop. I could make a whole series of shorts about what happens to people after they vote. In goes _______________ and out comes ______________
after all participation in democracy can do crazy things to people. Just look at some of these threads. |
Bob K
Supporter
Username: Bobk
Post Number: 11780
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 4:48 am: |
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Dave, actually Jerry Ryan might want one. I remember him stating that his uncle or great uncle was involved in inventing these wonderful examples of late 19th century technology. It also may explain were Jerry gets his technowonk tendencies.  |
Dave
Supporter
Username: Dave
Post Number: 9838
Registered: 4-1997
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 5:23 pm: |
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I bet Roger (Foj) might know.
Hope he sees this. |
Lydia
Supporter
Username: Lydial
Post Number: 1953
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, June 10, 2006 - 5:47 pm: |
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A friend of mine here in Maplewood has one of the old wood-and-glass voting boxes that Maplewood used before the voting booths. It's pretty cool, they use it as a little side table.
I'd like one of the old voting booths too - it would make a handsome necklace and ponytail holder organizer. |
Larry Seltzer
Citizen
Username: Elvis
Post Number: 35
Registered: 4-2006
| | Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 9:22 am: |
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Ask Chris Durkin, I'm sure the old machines are his responsibility. Maybe he's be open to an auction. |
Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 7588
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 10:56 am: |
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An auction would be a great idea, especially if we can hold the auction as a fundraiser for a worthy local cause. |
Tom Reingold
Supporter
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 14649
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, June 11, 2006 - 10:27 pm: |
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I was wrong. We did receive sample ballots in the mail. They got buried in the junk mail, which I just went through.
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