2004 General Election Recommendations

from

Secretary of State Chris Nelson

 

The competitive nature of the last two statewide elections in South Dakota combined with numerous changes in our state’s election laws have brought a sharp focus on the conduct of elections in this state.  That scrutiny is entirely proper in a free society and is welcomed. 

 

The goal of everyone involved in elections including the Secretary of State, county auditors, election workers, voters, media and candidates of all political parties is to have each election perfectly conducted.  Each voter who is entitled under the laws of this state and nation to cast a ballot must be able to do so in a free and fair environment.  Anyone who would seek to hinder, interfere, disrupt or perpetrate fraud of any kind on our election system must be prevented from accomplishing their crime and punished. 

 

The county auditor in each county is responsible for conducting primary and general elections.  The auditor has a tremendous responsibility to qualify candidates, print ballots, program and test ballot counting machinery, hire and train election workers, establish polling places and maintain an accurate voter registration list.

 

The Secretary of State provides support to each county auditor through training and serving as a resource to assist county auditors in resolving unique issues which arise.  The Secretary of State plays a large role in maintaining uniformity of election procedures throughout the state by working with the Legislature and State Board of Elections as election laws and rules are crafted. 

 

Following are ten recommendations for county auditors from the Secretary of State.  The recommendations are based on observations by the Secretary of State, information provided by numerous sources and the experience of the Secretary of State with election administration.  These recommendations should in no way be construed to mean that “every polling place in the state has this problem”.  Rather these recommendations are areas which may deserve additional attention leading into the November 2 general election.  Many county auditors are currently implementing all of these recommendations as a normal course of election conduct in their county.

 

It is important to understand that these are simply recommendations.  The Secretary of State has no authority to require county auditors to follow any of these recommendations.  County auditors are independently elected officials with the inherent responsibility for properly conducting elections within their county.  Auditors will make autonomous  judgments regarding the applicability of each of these recommendations in their county and in their polling places.

 

Recommendations

 

1. Appreciation for our state’s poll workers.  It is important that we recognize and show appreciation for the dedication of the 3,500 to 4,000 election workers throughout South Dakota who will staff our polling places and counting centers on general election day.  Election workers are the backbone which make election day possible.  These workers are our friends and neighbors who will work 13 to 18 hours or longer on election day.  They don’t do this for the money.  They work because they believe in the importance of the election process to our democracy and our country.  The intangible rewards these workers receive for “helping make democracy happen” in their precinct are too often offset by verbal abuse and intimidation from voters or poll watchers.  The job of a poll worker has become more difficult over the years because of new federal and state election law requirements.  It is important that we let our election workers know that they are vital to a successfully conducted election and that they are appreciated. 

 

2. Election workers.  It is imperative that each precinct be staffed with a sufficient quantity of election workers who can perform all of the election day duties assigned to the election board.  It is recommended that each county auditor work with their election board superintendents to review the capabilities of their election boards.  While each election board member may not need the same skill level, each election board as a whole must have the ability to accomplish their assigned tasks on election day.

 

Each election board must be sufficiently staffed.  Auditors are encouraged to identify  polling places where election boards have, in the past, had difficulties processing voters quickly, have become bogged down interacting with poll watchers or not had sufficient workers to adequately curb illegal campaign activities at the polling place.  It is recommended that additional qualified election workers be hired for those precincts to ensure that the polling place operations run smoothly and legally.  Auditors may want to consider working with their local high school to utilize 18-year-old student poll workers as is now allowed by law.

 

3. Training precinct election board workers.  Training is the crucial link between the requirements of state election law and the application of those laws at the precinct level on election day.  Statute requires the county auditor and state’s attorney to conduct training for all precinct superintendents.  It is strongly recommended that all election workers be included in this training. 

 

The Secretary of State produced a 30 minute video and PowerPoint presentation to be used by the county auditor in training these election workers.  This presentation contains all of the essential information which is needed by election workers to correctly operate their polling place.  The Secretary of State is producing a special General Election 2004 edition of this training presentation.  It is strongly recommended that all county auditors use this training tool as part of their training program. 

 

It is recommended that the poll worker training contain an emphasis on handling voters who arrive at the polling place without identification, whose name is not on the voter registration list, who are listed as inactive or whose identity is challenged.  Poll workers must be comfortable resolving all of these situations by proper application of state election law and by using the Polling Place Voter Key (further explained in recommendation #4).  Training should include simulations of these situations to give the workers “hands-on” experience in dealing with these scenarios. 

 

Besides training election workers on the requirements of state and federal election law, training should include guidance and information on proper and professional poll worker conduct as the workers interact with voters.  Information should also be provided on serving voters with physical disabilities so that their polling place experience is positive. 

 

4. Voter identification and provisional ballots.  Voter identification and provisional ballots were new requirements for South Dakota polling places in 2004.  During the statewide election in June, 98% of the voters were able to show photo identification.  These voters were easily processed and provided a ballot.  Two percent of the voters were unable to show an identification, were provided a personal identification affidavit and voted a regular ballot.  Another 225 people were not found on the voter registration list but were able to vote a provisional ballot.  In a small number of cases it has been reported that voters who may have been eligible to cast a regular or provisional ballot were not offered these ballots.  If this occurred, it would appear the reason is that the election workers at those precincts may have been confused on how to proceed with such a voter.  Unfortunately these workers did not call their county auditor for assistance nor did they consult the Precinct Manual which should have been in their possession to determine how these voters were to be processed.

 

The Secretary of State has prepared a “tool” to assist each election board in properly dealing with any voter scenario which may present itself at the polling place.  This “tool” is called the South Dakota Polling Place Voter Key.  This key is a flow chart which covers every conceivable scenario from the time a voter presents himself or herself to vote until the voter is given a ballot or chooses not to vote.  No matter what the voter’s situation, the election board will have an easy-to-understand guide which will tell them how to respond to the voter and what step to take next.  It is recommended that each polling place be supplied with two of these “keys” which will be provided to counties by the Secretary of State.  One key will be for the election board and the other for poll watcher or voter reference. 

 

It is further recommended that in addition to the normal election school training provided to election board workers, special emphasis be given to training workers in using the Voter Key. 

 

5. Monitoring the polling place.  It is recommended that each county auditor establish a reliable system for monitoring the activity at each polling place.  Monitors would observe the work of the election board and watch for any illegal activity at the polling place. 

 

In many cases election board superintendents will be able to perform the necessary monitoring.  In other cases a separate individual may be employed to serve as a monitor.  Any concerns over inappropriate procedures on the part of the election board or possible illegal activity would be reported to the precinct superintendent for resolution.  The county auditor would then be made aware of the incident as soon as possible.  If the precinct superintendent is unable to resolve the identified issue, the county auditor and/or law enforcement would be notified.

 

6. Polling place environment.  Each of our polling places must be inviting to voters, free from intimidation and designed to accommodate voter traffic.  It is recommended that the layout of each polling place be seriously considered to allow for an easy flow of voters through the process.  Poll watchers and observers must be stationed so that they can see and hear the election board but they must not be allowed to interfere with the election board or voters, view into occupied voter booths, sit at the table with the official election workers or use the telephone designated for use by the election workers in carrying out their prescribed duties.  Election board members should wear a tag clearly identifying them as the official election workers. Voters must be able to clearly identify who are the official election workers and who are the poll watchers. 

 

If multiple precincts are voting at one polling place, a procedure should be adopted to guide voters to their correct precinct table. 

 

7. Poll watchers.  The most frequent complaint received regarding the conduct of the last two statewide elections evolved from the alleged actions of poll watchers and observers.  In order for the decorum of the polling place to be maintained, voters to have unrestricted access to the polling place and for each vote to be cast free from any illegal influence, it is imperative that every poll watcher obey the state’s polling place laws and that every precinct election board enforce those laws. 

 

Prior to the June 2004 election, the Secretary of State prepared and distributed to each county auditor and each political party a set of poll watcher guidelines.  These guidelines covered the role of poll watchers and what poll watchers were and were not allowed to do.  These guidelines will be enhanced, reprinted and distributed to county auditors for the general election.  It is recommended that a copy of these guidelines be provided to every poll watcher and observer who enters the polling place. 

 

As county auditors and state’s attorneys conduct the training which is required for precinct election workers, it is recommended that special emphasis be given to understanding what possible actions at the polling place are illegal.  Poll workers must be able to quickly identify illegal activity and have it stopped.  Poll workers must understand when to involve law enforcement in their effort to keep their polling place free from illegal activity and influence.

 

8. Communication between election board and county auditor.  It is vital that precinct election boards be able to communicate with the county auditor’s office throughout election day.  It is recommended that each county auditor have enough incoming telephone lines and trained staff to quickly handle telephone calls from election boards and from the public.  Priority must be given to calls from election boards.  An election board worker should never have to “wonder” how to resolve any issue because they can’t easily contact their county auditor. 

 

Any telephone in the polling place which has been designated as the telephone for use by the election board should not be used by any other person on election day.  That telephone line must remain open for communication between the election board and the county auditor.

 

9. Closing the polls in optical scan ballot precincts.  The law provides a process for each election board to follow in closing their precinct, completing the voter/ballot recapitulation sheet and preparing the ballot box for transport to the counting location.  Failure to follow this procedure will lengthen the time involved in closing the polling place thus delaying the vote count.  Not following proper procedures also gives opportunity to raise questions about ballot security.  It is recommended that when training election workers, county auditors give extra time and attention to proper procedure for closing the polling place including hands-on training to understand and expeditiously complete the recapitulation sheet. 

 

10. Optical scan ballot counting machines.  State law requires that all optical scan ballot counters be programmed to count each vote accurately and to handle ballots with over-votes or under-votes in a specified manner.  The law requires that optical scan ballot counters be thoroughly tested prior to each election and on election night prior to the official count.  Additional statutes define the roll of the resolution board during the election night count.  It is recommended that county auditors specifically review the scanner settings to ensure that the each scanner is “out-stacking” only ballots which appear blank.  Ballots which contain a race which is over or under-voted must not be “out-stacked”.  Proper setting for over and under-voted ballots is critical to an expeditious count.  It is recommended that resolution board members be trained to understand their duties and authority on election night.