Moles in the Polls--Post Tips for Pollworkers/inspectors here

A colleague in the movement emailed me this morning saying he's going to be an election inspector in the upcoming "isn't-that-special" election in California, asking what he should be looking for. Here were my suggestions to him. What else shall I tell him? What about people who are pollworkers but not inspectors? What should they look for?

Here's a link that might be helpful:
http://www.countthevote.org/pollwatching.htm

A couple of things I do know:

-There have been problems with machines malfunctioning but not being taken off-line. Any machine that's not working properly should not be used. What tends to happen instead is either vendor reps coming in and monkeying with the machines during the election--very dangerous!--or the machines continuing to be used.
-I think the link above (though I haven't read the article in months) talks about how to look for wireless modem card in the back of the machine. The machines should not be able to transmit or recieve by modem during the election. Modems can be used to alter the vote.
-I think it's important to document everything that looks at all fishy to you, including things about which you're tempted to think, "It's probably nothing."
-If you haven't been trained yet, when you go through training you might ask about these things:

• When the tests are run on the machines, are they tested in "test" mode or "election" mode? Those modes have different software. Tests *must* be run in election mode to actually be tests.
• Does the county do the logic and accuracy testing, or do the vendors do it? Who prepares the "test decks" for L&A testing? (It should be a true independent or the county.) There are explanations of this on votersunite.org. See especially the info on John Washburn.
• When the machines are "zeroed out," to begin an election, how can you as an inspector verify that the total of zero isn't achieved by positive votes for one candidate and negative votes for others?

You can also go to verifiedvoting.org and search for the exact vendor and machine models used by your county. They have lots of info about specific problems with specific machines.

:kick:

I don't think he will be an inspector, but the info will give him added insight into what takes place at the polls.

He will get a whopping $65 for 15? hours work and is thrilled! He also gets credit for his Gov't class. :)

Maybe he can share with his gov't class the ideas that I'm hoping will get posted here.

become poll workers by offering them a paid day off for training + on election day, plus they get to keep the $ 85 paid by the BOE. I will make sure they are aware of this info.

We should encourage more socially conscious companies to do this!

The Democratic party probably has requested print-out copies of registered voters in advance...at least by a week. Pollwatchers should have copies of these print-outs in their hands at the precincts. So when voters are disenfranchised on election day for having the wrong middle initial or wrong number in a street address, the print-out can catch if a malicious memory card had been inserted into the system.

Print-outs should be kept and not tossed after the election.

"the print-out can catch if a malicious memory card had been inserted into the system." I don't get what you mean.

Also, what's the significance to a pollworker of the Democratic party having a print-out? Do other parties get them as well? Do pollworkers have print-outs, and would they be the same or different in some way?

...a pollwatcher would only have the print-out in advance if the Democratic party had requested it. They're also referred to as walking sheets/papers because it's what is used to rally the vote or have petitions signed throughout the year.

In Ohio, print-outs were released to the Democratic party the week prior to the election. Volunteers used those sheets to make phone calls; thank goodness they hung onto them. Pollwatchers/volunteers knew immediately that the voter registration database had been manipulated on election day because voters were being disenfranchised right and left and/or sent to other precincts because a middle initial or street number/name was wrong in the database. Yet when the print-outs from the week before were checked, the info was intact for the voters who reported it. No telling how many were disenfranchised and never reported it. The database had been manipulated the week prior to the election... probably with malicious memory cards. After the election, the correct memory card can be inserted; officials will write off election day descrepancies as glitches.

This doesn't have to be dramatic to change the outcome of an election, as you know. Just 5, 10 or 15 votes per precinct is all it takes...voila!

It's important to find out what databases are being used, particularly in more blue districts/counties. Some are worse than others.

who go to the polls for a horrid and possibly rigged special election on November 8.

Tips for poll wokers?