Sunday, November 02, 2008
Election Day volunteer poll-watchers: They're watching, not staring
This year, political parties will take full advantage of the state law allowing them to monitor the polls.
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roanoke.com/politics
If voters get the feeling Tuesday that they're being watched more closely than normal, that may be because they are.
Scores of volunteers in Roanoke and the surrounding region have signed up to work as poll watchers, adding another layer of scrutiny to Virginia's most closely watched presidential election in years.
State law allows up to three authorized representatives of each political party to be present at every polling place. Although the law has been used only sparingly in the past, this year is different.
"Obviously, this is the first time Virginia has been close, which is why we're seeing a ramped-up effort," said Adam Boitnott, chairman of the Roanoke City Republican Committee. Boitnott said last week that about 110 people have told him they would like to help monitor the polls.
Poll-watching efforts are being organized by local political parties, often in conjunction with the campaigns of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.
In addition to monitoring the polls on Tuesday, both parties in Roanoke will have attorneys standing by in case a dispute needs to be resolved in court. The chief justice of the Virginia Supreme Court has instructed that a circuit court judge be available in every jurisdiction until the polls close on Tuesday night.
Unlike election workers hired by local electoral boards to run the machinery of an election, poll watchers will not interact with voters and should remain as unobtrusive as possible, organizers said.
"They should be blending into the background, because that's what they are supposed to do," said Spencer Wiegard, one of about a dozen Roanoke attorneys on call for the Republicans.
"They're there to observe, not to support any party or to do anything to sway anyone's votes."
Too few poll workers and voting machines?
The idea is to be on the lookout for any kind of problem -- as isolated as a question about a single voter's registration, or as widespread as delays that keep large numbers of voters waiting for hours.
Poll watchers have been instructed to take up any concerns with the election workers on duty at the precinct, said Tony Reed, chairman of the Roanoke City Democratic Committee. Reed said Friday that about 30 people have expressed an interest to the committee in being poll watchers, although that number was expected to grow before Election Day.
"Maybe I'm a little optimistic, but I have trust in the process," Reed said. "I don't really think we'll have any situations."
However, the Roanoke registrar was still scrambling late last week to train all of the city's paid election workers. Of the 250 election workers the registrar's office was seeking, 55 had yet to complete their required two hours of training by last Tuesday.
And statewide, questions have been raised about whether there are enough voting machines and workers to adequately staff polling places, particularly those in predominantly black areas where Obama is expected to draw large numbers of new voters.
Although no one is saying a run to the courthouse is a certainty, party officials didn't rule that out, either.
"We live in a world that's post-Bush v. Gore," Wiegard said. "The rules are there for a reason, and everybody needs to follow the rules."
Provisional ballots
Should the need to litigate arise, the issue would likely involve a block of voters. For example, a judge might be asked to extend the voting hours if delays leave a large number of people still waiting in line after 7 p.m.
Individual disputes may be resolved through provisional ballots. If a voter's name does not appear in the poll book, and there's a question about his registration that cannot be resolved immediately, the voter will be allowed to cast a provisional vote.
Provisional votes are cast on paper ballots and not counted on Election Day. The following day, local Electoral Boards will meet to determine whether provisional voters were eligible to vote. If so, their votes will be added to the total.
Roanoke had fewer than 50 provisional votes cast in the last presidential election, said Carl Tinsley, chairman of the city's electoral board. This time, "I'm expecting a whole lot more," he said.
Montgomery and Botetourt counties
In Montgomery County, Democratic Committee chairman Steve Cochran said poll watchers will be paying particular attention to the precinct that includes Virginia Tech students who live on campus.
The issue of Tech students' eligibility generated controversy in September, when the voter registrar sent out an inaccurate news release that warned parents could lose their child's tax dependency status if their children registered to vote using their Blacksburg addresses.
Tech has been the site of voter registration drives this year, and the number of registered voters in the precinct that covers the university has more than doubled recently.
Cochran was not sure how many poll watchers will turn out on behalf of the Democratic party. But word of the effort has already reached local Republicans, who decided to have their own monitors.
Patty Manthe, chairwoman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, said she has authorized about 10 people to serve as poll watchers. Usually there are none in the county, Manthe said.
Although most local party officials said they are using poll watchers just as a precaution, Republicans in one county have already identified what they called potential problems with the list of registered voters.
Danny Goad, vice chairman of the Botetourt County Republican Committee, said his review of 1,300 names on the list raised questions about 323 voters, including six cases in which the same person was listed twice.
"Six out of 1,300 sounds like a small number," Goad said. But when extrapolated statewide, he said, it amounts to more than 13,000 voters -- enough to swing the election in Virginia.
Goad said he and other poll watchers in Botetourt County plan to challenge some voters on Tuesday.
"If there's a problem, it will be a very noninvasive procedure that we follow," he said. "We'll just simply make notice to the election officials and they will make the appropriate checks."
Goad said he has expressed his concerns to the county registrar and Commonwealth's Attorney Joel Branscom.
There may be some problems with outdated addresses of people who have moved and not notified the registrar, Branscom said. But the prosecutor said he was not aware of any potential for widespread election fraud in the county.
Branscom also said that anyone who plans to challenge a voter should proceed with caution.
"I'm asking them to be very sure before they challenge," he said.
"Because there is a fine line between challenging and intimidating."
