The Collin County Observer

In a "Hits and Misses" item on today's editorial page, the Dallas Morning News editorial board wrote -

Pathetic poll problems
The right to vote is very special, so it is extremely disconcerting to hear that some poll workers don't know the rules or have made up their own. This happened during early voting in Collin County when some workers demanded more identification than the law requires. If a person doesn't have a voter ID card, then a driver's license or another picture ID often will suffice. Absent that, poll workers should accept government correspondence or other private documents, like a bank statement or current utility bill. The point is to work with people and get them into the voting booth, not keep them out.

More than 200,000 Collin County citizens voted early this year - a record number. While most early voting in Collin County went smoothly and according to law, there were some real problems, especially at the Spring Creek Community College location.

According to Frederick Barrow, the Co-chair of the non-partisan North Texas Election Protection group, there were numerous complaints of election workers throughout the county requiring more identification than the law demands. Last Saturday, this writer, while serving as a poll watcher in Allen, noticed a home-made sign on a check-in station election workers had put up that indicating a line for "Voter ID cards and photo ID". (I did point out to the judge that the law did not require a "photo ID", and she removed the sign.)

These ID issues were made much worse because the software the county was using to look up voters in the main registration database was not functioning as it should. Thousands of valid voter registrations, mostly newly registered voters, were not added to the poll lists because the software was not communicating to the central database.

The software, a program called VoteSafe purchased from San Diego based Votec, is an automated poll book software package that is supposed to allow "near real time" synchronization of voter registration databases, so that an election worker can look up a voter's registration and check the voter in to vote. While Votec promises, "Multiple fail-safe technologies keep you in control and your poll places always connected." the reality "on the ground" in Collin County was markedly different.

Beginning on the first day, VoteSafe was not processing new voter lists uploaded by officials at the McKinney elections office. Over the next 2 weeks, elections officials, Votec and county IT staff worked day and night to try to solve the communication problems, but with only limited success. On at least 2 occasions, elections officials dispatched workers to manually upload new databases at each polling location. The VoteSafe problems were still only partially resolved when early voting ended Friday night.

My records indicate that it is likely that over 30,000 valid voter records were not available to the electronic poll books and polling places. Many of these 30,000 voters showed up to vote, presented a valid voter ID card, but their names were not on file, so they were either told to "come back later" or sent to another line to be questioned by another clerk before the elections office was called.

When a voter's name did not show up on the e-poll book, that would cause the Election Judge to have to phone the McKinney Elections Office in an attempt to verify that the voter was indeed registered. Many judges were then requiring that the voter complete a laborious "provisional ballot". The net effect was longer lines, hassled voters, hassled judges and confusion over rules and procedures - and most regrettably, some discouraged voters who simply went home, rather than endure the wait and paperwork.

Voters were often told to "come back later in the week" in hopes that the poll books would be updated. One judge I spoke with told me he was telling this only to "students, because they'd be there all week anyway". How many of these voters who were refused actually returned to vote is unknown.

By middle of the first week of early voting, Sharon Rowe, the county's Election Administrator, had notified all the polling place judges that provision ballots should not be used if a voter's registration was verified by the elections office, instead the voters were to be permitted to vote on the machines like any other voter.

Hearing of some of these poll book and ID issues, the local Democratic Party and several campaigns dispatched poll watchers to many polling locations.

According to some poll watchers at the Collin College Spring Creek campus polling place, the election judge, refused to allow the watchers to enter the election clerks area to observe the check-in process. On Friday, the judge, James Middleton, called the campus police and threatened to have the poll watchers removed. Even though the police were dispatched, common sense prevailed and the poll watchers were permitted to remain, however they were never granted full access to observe.

Texas election law grants a full and absolute right to election poll watchers to observe all elections processes except the actual voting by a voter.

• §33.056. OBSERVING ACTIVITY GENERALLY.
  (a) Except as provided by Section 33.057, a watcher is entitled to
  observe any activity conducted at the location at which the watcher is
  serving. A watcher is entitled to sit or stand conveniently near the
  election officers conducting the observed activity.
• § 33.061. UNLAWFULLY OBSTRUCTING WATCHER.
  (a) A person commits an offense if the person serves in an official
  capacity at a location at which the presence of watchers is authorized
  and knowingly prevents a watcher from observing an activity the watcher
  is entitled to observe.
  (b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor.
  [Punishable by up to one year in jail or up to a $4,000.00 fine, or both]

I spoke to some of the watchers and the judge involved in the Spring Creek incident. One of the watchers said that the judge was intimidating the watchers, wagging his finger at them and threatening to call the police if they entered the election clerks work area. Another stated the judge demanded that she "sit in that chair and not move". The watcher was told that she could not talk to the clerks and that she would have submit her questions to the judge in writing. When shown a copy of the election code, the watcher reported the judge said he didn't care about the code, that he'd been a judge for many years and knew what he was doing. At least one of the poll watchers indicated to me that he was contemplating filing a criminal complaint of "obstructing a watcher" over these incidents.

I spoke with Election Judge Middleton who refused comment except to say it was a very difficult situation and he was very tired.

Countywide, it certainly appears that many Collin County voters were denied their right to vote and that many thousands were inconvenienced. Thousands were wrongly required to fill out the long provisional voter application. Poll watchers and clerks report that in some locations, judges were "grilling" voters, intimidating volunteers outside who were passing out election rights flyers, and suggesting that voters "go home" and try to find their voter ID. One poll watcher at Spring Creek told me, "They [the elections clerks] were really going after the black students." who were trying to vote.

Election judges and clerks are citizen volunteers who could never be paid enough for the service they render to the voting public. Almost all of them are fair and try their very best to be friendly, diligent and even-handed. None of the judges and clerks I spoke with never knew there was a software problem at the root of their difficulties. What these judges saw instead was a mass of voters not in the system. They could only guess at the cause.

The additional work created by the VoteSafe failure generally added work and confusion to an already busy and crowded polling place. The shear number of people not being in the e-poll book system created too many situations where the voter's intent was questioned. Election clerks were presented with too many situations that exceeded their understanding of the law's provisions.

Mr. Barrow emphasized that Collin County poll workers need, "better training, better training and better training." I would add that they also need better communication, communication and communication. They also deserve our gratitude.

A very few need to be completely retrained or removed.

Mr. Barrow also stated that the North Texas Election Protection team has over 150 lawyers and law students prepared to respond to election day issues. He promised that they, "would use any means at their disposal, including the courts, to remedy the dis-enfranchisement of registered voters on election day."

Bill

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Notes:

Early voters report obstacles at polls, Dallas Morning News, Oct. 29, 2008

Texas Election Code on voter id -

• § 63.0101. DOCUMENTATION OF PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION.
  The following documentation is acceptable as proof of identification under this chapter:
  (1) a driver's license or personal identification card issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety or a similar document issued to the person by an agency of another state, regardless of whether the license or card has expired;
  (2) a form of identification containing the person's photograph that establishes the person's identity;
  (3) a birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person's identity;
  (4) United States citizenship papers issued to the person;
  (5) a United States passport issued to the person;
  (6) official mail addressed to the person by name from a governmental entity;
  (7) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter; or
  (8) any other form of identification prescribed by the secretary of state.