PREFACE
A new year. What joy will this year bring to me? Every day is a new chance for joy. Not just the first day of the new year. But we all see it and mark it as a new beginning.
STORY
This year brings along with it the old problems of the last two years, since #45 was put into the presidency. I resolved last year to "unplug" from the news on the weekends on Friday night and not watch the news again until Sunday night. This gives me a break from the non-stop dumpster fire that is the Trump presidency!
I am also still fighting the effects of PTSD, depression and anxiety, but the need to fight them is getting a little more infrequent. I have tried to start a running count of "days I haven't cried" but can't seem to get past 3 days. I am still broken.
I started a weight loss program in the beginning of November. I've lost 11 lbs, even through the holidays. I'm in my 14th week and I'm going to lose 60 lbs. I am tired of carrying around the extra weight. I'm tired of my joints aching. I'm tired of not being able to do things that I use to do with ease. I'm just tired! This program (Noom) is based online and aligns with my lifestyle. This will be a success!!
CONCLUSION
So with a new year, comes a new outlook. My one resolution this year will be to move forward.
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label news. Show all posts
Saturday, January 19, 2019
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
AND THE RECOUNT GOES ON
PREFACE
I can't imagine the stress level at the County Elections office. There are protesters, Florida officials, and observers from both political parties vying for "their right to see every ballot counted" and to give opinions over ANY available media. #45 is leading the pack in misinformation and misdirection. There are not enough people to do this monumental job, but they persevere despite accusations that are hurled at them everyday this is not resolved.
STORY
The people doing the recounting are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get these ballots recounted, AND validate mail-in absentee ballots and PROVISIONAL ballots cast on election day. These are VOLUNTEERS! doing all this additional work. Would you volunteer to be stuck in a room, feeding page after page of ballots into a machine? only to end up losing all of them because the machine overheated!! These machines are made to work one or two days, every two years, for 12 hours. It's like running a Hyundai in the INDY 500! Somewhere around lap 300, it's gonna breakdown.
So Brenda Snipes has announced that the recount of cast ballots (and initial count of absentee ballots) will be done by 3 p.m. Thursday. So what then? If the count is still within the parameters of a "very close" race between the governor's race and the senator's race (and the AG, for that matter), it will trigger a MANUAL HAND COUNT of all acceptable ballots.
Acceptable Ballots. That is something that is VERY controversial as there has been advantages put in place by Republicans (specifically Rick Scott) that may be enough to tip in their favor. Florida has an "EXACT SIGNATURE MATCH" law in regards to absentee ballots. As I stated in my previous posts, your signature changes naturally over the years. Some parts of it always stay the same, but those parts are NOT ALL THE SAME PARTS for everyone. As a pollworker, I had to validate the signature on the voter's ID matching it to the signature they signed on the signature-pad on election day. As the voter, you can't see how your signature appears as you sign. The "pen" is not a regular pen. The area you are signing is not a familiar signing surface. So we look for similar "parts" of the signature to match, but NOT AN EXACT MATCH!
Your signature may have become MORE illegible/scribbled as you've aged, or you may have purposefully or unintentionally changed it; by leaving off the dot over an 'I', or making the final mark sweep up for Feng Shui, or illness has your hand shaking, or your eyesight is failing, or you stopped using your middle name/initial, etc.... There may be many reasons that your signature has changed since you last signed a Voter's Registration form, THE OFFICIAL SIGNATURE to which the Dept of Elections is comparing your mail-in ballot. MANY signatures will fail! so your vote won't count! Military service personnel, citizens traveling for pleasure, and officials/businesspersons out of the country on business, may have any/all absentee ballots disapproved because their signature does not match EXACTLY to the signature the Dept of Elections has on file. The could be 10s of 1000s, enough to sway the election to either candidate.
CONCLUSION
Before you believe what you read in social media or the news, think about all those people working day and night to ensure the freedom of every vote to being counted. The United States is not a dictatorship. It is not a Communist regime. It does not have a puppet government. The United States is a republic, of the people, for the people, and by the people. They are human beings, doing a thankless job, to insure a right and just election. Neither party will be happy with the outcome, if it goes against them. I would like to see it come down to a runoff. Take it to the people one, more, time! (NOTE: I'd like to know how Dade county finished their recount. What was overlooked, or invalidated as a matter of course?)
I can't imagine the stress level at the County Elections office. There are protesters, Florida officials, and observers from both political parties vying for "their right to see every ballot counted" and to give opinions over ANY available media. #45 is leading the pack in misinformation and misdirection. There are not enough people to do this monumental job, but they persevere despite accusations that are hurled at them everyday this is not resolved.
STORY
The people doing the recounting are working 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get these ballots recounted, AND validate mail-in absentee ballots and PROVISIONAL ballots cast on election day. These are VOLUNTEERS! doing all this additional work. Would you volunteer to be stuck in a room, feeding page after page of ballots into a machine? only to end up losing all of them because the machine overheated!! These machines are made to work one or two days, every two years, for 12 hours. It's like running a Hyundai in the INDY 500! Somewhere around lap 300, it's gonna breakdown.
So Brenda Snipes has announced that the recount of cast ballots (and initial count of absentee ballots) will be done by 3 p.m. Thursday. So what then? If the count is still within the parameters of a "very close" race between the governor's race and the senator's race (and the AG, for that matter), it will trigger a MANUAL HAND COUNT of all acceptable ballots.
Acceptable Ballots. That is something that is VERY controversial as there has been advantages put in place by Republicans (specifically Rick Scott) that may be enough to tip in their favor. Florida has an "EXACT SIGNATURE MATCH" law in regards to absentee ballots. As I stated in my previous posts, your signature changes naturally over the years. Some parts of it always stay the same, but those parts are NOT ALL THE SAME PARTS for everyone. As a pollworker, I had to validate the signature on the voter's ID matching it to the signature they signed on the signature-pad on election day. As the voter, you can't see how your signature appears as you sign. The "pen" is not a regular pen. The area you are signing is not a familiar signing surface. So we look for similar "parts" of the signature to match, but NOT AN EXACT MATCH!
Your signature may have become MORE illegible/scribbled as you've aged, or you may have purposefully or unintentionally changed it; by leaving off the dot over an 'I', or making the final mark sweep up for Feng Shui, or illness has your hand shaking, or your eyesight is failing, or you stopped using your middle name/initial, etc.... There may be many reasons that your signature has changed since you last signed a Voter's Registration form, THE OFFICIAL SIGNATURE to which the Dept of Elections is comparing your mail-in ballot. MANY signatures will fail! so your vote won't count! Military service personnel, citizens traveling for pleasure, and officials/businesspersons out of the country on business, may have any/all absentee ballots disapproved because their signature does not match EXACTLY to the signature the Dept of Elections has on file. The could be 10s of 1000s, enough to sway the election to either candidate.
CONCLUSION
Before you believe what you read in social media or the news, think about all those people working day and night to ensure the freedom of every vote to being counted. The United States is not a dictatorship. It is not a Communist regime. It does not have a puppet government. The United States is a republic, of the people, for the people, and by the people. They are human beings, doing a thankless job, to insure a right and just election. Neither party will be happy with the outcome, if it goes against them. I would like to see it come down to a runoff. Take it to the people one, more, time! (NOTE: I'd like to know how Dade county finished their recount. What was overlooked, or invalidated as a matter of course?)
Sunday, November 11, 2018
EARLY VOTING IN BROWARD COUNTY
PREFACE
In my two previous posts, I talked about being a pollworker for the primary and general elections this year. As a pollworker, I have to vote by mail or in person during early voting because I can't vote on election day, since I'm working the polls. In 2016, I voted by mail-in ballot. I was confident that my vote would be counted, even after the debacle of Bush vs. Gore and 50,000+ votes being "lost" in Dade county...found in a cabinet, not counted. Then I heard that Florida has an "exact signature matching" law that I assumed Rick Scott would enforce rabidly if the votes were close.
STORY
I made some mistakes on my mail-in ballot so I was forced to vote in person at an early voting site. There are many in Broward county and they cover any precinct, so there's no restriction that you go to a specific location. You can vote at any early voting polling site. I delayed and delayed, doing research into the many, many amendments listed on the ballot. I had voted 'yes' on several that had confusing wording. They do that on purpose to get things passed. The common person with minimal education (HS which teaches "don't question") would think that some of these amendments were clear cut, but they'd be wrong. So I finally settled on my votes and headed to my closest polling place, the library in Weston, just west of where I live.
My sister had early voted at the library in Cooper City in the middle of the second week. No waiting. In and out in 15-20 minutes. Easy-peasy. I waited to the last minute. 6 p.m. on Sunday night. Polls close at 7 p.m. I waited in line, outside in the dark, in the heat for an hour before getting inside the building. There were about 200 people ahead of me, and when I entered the building, I heard over the walkie-talkie that there were about 160 people behind me when they officially closed the polls. It was still worth it to get my vote counted!
CONCLUSION
Now that there is an automatic recount generated by the closeness of the voting, I am glad I didn't send in my mail-in ballot. My signature has changed over the years. I don't know what signature they have on record for me. My signature is enough like my license that I got in 2012 but I don't know what it looked like when I originally registered to vote. I could have signed with my middle initial, which I do not do anymore. My license has my middle name spelled out, but my signature is without my middle name, nor my middle initial. Would that mean that if I had mailed my ballot and Rick Scott sues for scrutiny of mail-in ballots, that my vote would not have counted?!
Glad I voted in-person! I don't know how many 1000s or 10s of 1000s of people voted last minute in the early voting, but it just ended on Sunday, right before the general election on Tuesday. The deadline for mailed-in ballots ended at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6th, even if they were hand-delivered to the Board of Elections. All the precincts had to be picked up by truck and delivered to the regional office of the Board of Elections. Broward county does not have county trucks to do this. Elections come every two years and trucks have to be rented for this job. Election officials drive those trucks, certified and sworn in by the Board of Elections. There are procedures upon procedures to secure and deliver the paper ballots that have been counted by the voting machines. The voting machines have transmitted the voting information to the regional office. The paper ballots are backup. They now have to be counted, along with the mail-in ballots, and the paper ballots that back up the early voting electronic transmission, and all must be reconciled.
I think I may update my voter's registration to update my signature. 2020 is right around the corner!!
In my two previous posts, I talked about being a pollworker for the primary and general elections this year. As a pollworker, I have to vote by mail or in person during early voting because I can't vote on election day, since I'm working the polls. In 2016, I voted by mail-in ballot. I was confident that my vote would be counted, even after the debacle of Bush vs. Gore and 50,000+ votes being "lost" in Dade county...found in a cabinet, not counted. Then I heard that Florida has an "exact signature matching" law that I assumed Rick Scott would enforce rabidly if the votes were close.
STORY
I made some mistakes on my mail-in ballot so I was forced to vote in person at an early voting site. There are many in Broward county and they cover any precinct, so there's no restriction that you go to a specific location. You can vote at any early voting polling site. I delayed and delayed, doing research into the many, many amendments listed on the ballot. I had voted 'yes' on several that had confusing wording. They do that on purpose to get things passed. The common person with minimal education (HS which teaches "don't question") would think that some of these amendments were clear cut, but they'd be wrong. So I finally settled on my votes and headed to my closest polling place, the library in Weston, just west of where I live.
My sister had early voted at the library in Cooper City in the middle of the second week. No waiting. In and out in 15-20 minutes. Easy-peasy. I waited to the last minute. 6 p.m. on Sunday night. Polls close at 7 p.m. I waited in line, outside in the dark, in the heat for an hour before getting inside the building. There were about 200 people ahead of me, and when I entered the building, I heard over the walkie-talkie that there were about 160 people behind me when they officially closed the polls. It was still worth it to get my vote counted!
CONCLUSION
Now that there is an automatic recount generated by the closeness of the voting, I am glad I didn't send in my mail-in ballot. My signature has changed over the years. I don't know what signature they have on record for me. My signature is enough like my license that I got in 2012 but I don't know what it looked like when I originally registered to vote. I could have signed with my middle initial, which I do not do anymore. My license has my middle name spelled out, but my signature is without my middle name, nor my middle initial. Would that mean that if I had mailed my ballot and Rick Scott sues for scrutiny of mail-in ballots, that my vote would not have counted?!
Glad I voted in-person! I don't know how many 1000s or 10s of 1000s of people voted last minute in the early voting, but it just ended on Sunday, right before the general election on Tuesday. The deadline for mailed-in ballots ended at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6th, even if they were hand-delivered to the Board of Elections. All the precincts had to be picked up by truck and delivered to the regional office of the Board of Elections. Broward county does not have county trucks to do this. Elections come every two years and trucks have to be rented for this job. Election officials drive those trucks, certified and sworn in by the Board of Elections. There are procedures upon procedures to secure and deliver the paper ballots that have been counted by the voting machines. The voting machines have transmitted the voting information to the regional office. The paper ballots are backup. They now have to be counted, along with the mail-in ballots, and the paper ballots that back up the early voting electronic transmission, and all must be reconciled.
I think I may update my voter's registration to update my signature. 2020 is right around the corner!!
WORKING THE ELECTION POLLS (part 2)
PREFACE
In Part 1 of this post, I explained what goes into the training and the actual experience of working the voting polling place. As a pollworker, you have to go through training for every election, even if you just went through it for the primary, you have to go through it again for the general election. The training is (4 hrs) and covers every position needed on election day. You may be asked to fill in for something you didn't want to do but must do because someone didn't show up! There is a written manual that you need to have with you on the day, just in case.
STORY
Now for 2018. Training for 4 hours in the early spring for the primaries. After working the Primary election at a different polling site, and only having to serve 120 or so voters, it was a lot more lull than activity. I was handing out ballots as a Ballot Inspector this time as we had a much smaller staff (6) and all positions had to be filled.
I volunteered to do this to be an EVID operator. Verifying identity by photo and signature of each voter for which I processed a voting pass. The voting pass is then taken to the table where the ballots are given in exchange for the voting pass. Special circumstances are if the voter doesn't come up on the EVID as being registered, they can request a provisional ballot which is reconciled after the election day. Address (and name) changes can be done on election day and the voter can vote if they are in that precinct, or they are sent to the correct precinct. Everyone in line to vote by 7 p.m. is allowed to vote, even after the polls are officially closed. A security guard and/or police officer is posted at the end of the line at 7 p.m. No one arriving after 7 p.m. (7:01 or 7:02) is allowed to join the line, nor to vote if there is no line. Some people take this news as harsh, but it is the law.
This general election we processed about 1000 voters. For a mid-term election, that is remarkable. The last general election in 2016, we processed about 800, in the same precinct, at the same polling site. The fact there was 14 days of early voting and mail-in ballots, that was a better than expected turnout. We were once again cut off from the news of the day, observed by poll watchers (stationed near the voting area by both major political parties, to watch the process), and visited several times by Poll Inspectors from Broward County.
We were coming to the close of another election day. Two men came in and sat at the table next to the voting booths entrance. They were recording with their cellphones. The Clerk went over to tell them they were not permitted in that area during voting hours, nor were they allowed to shoot video. They said they were waiting for the posting of the totals tapes. The Clerk said they could wait away from the voting area or outside. They left.
As we were processing the closing of the polls, breaking down the voting booths, the tables, packing up everything, and the VST operators and workers were clearing the VST machines of the cast ballots and placing them into the secure bags for transport, someone noticed those two men outside taking video through the windows. What would be the motivation for that?! (Remember, we had been cut off from all news reports.) The Clerk asked them to stop. They didn't. The pollworkers had not given consent to be filmed! Securing the ballots is not something open to the public normally. The Clerk went outside to emphatically ask them to stop filming. I helped obscure their view of the process. They were not official County Inspectors. We had nothing to hide but we also did not want our faces on some video on social media or podcast without our permission. The police were called, reports filled out, and they finally left. We were concerned that we might be followed home or harassed when we left the premises. There is a limit to invasion of privacy.
CONCLUSION
Once home, I found out how close the election was between the two candidates for senator and governor. I now understand why obscure "news" people would want to find some impropriety in the voting process that they might exploit for their own gain. It was still obnoxious and unnecessary. There was no impropriety. No mistakes (unless human error or machine error caused them). Procedures were followed. Inspectors inspected. Poll watchers watched. And now we wait for the results, whatever they may be. It looks like automatic recounts will ensue because of the closeness of the votes. Our democracy in action!
In Part 1 of this post, I explained what goes into the training and the actual experience of working the voting polling place. As a pollworker, you have to go through training for every election, even if you just went through it for the primary, you have to go through it again for the general election. The training is (4 hrs) and covers every position needed on election day. You may be asked to fill in for something you didn't want to do but must do because someone didn't show up! There is a written manual that you need to have with you on the day, just in case.
STORY
Now for 2018. Training for 4 hours in the early spring for the primaries. After working the Primary election at a different polling site, and only having to serve 120 or so voters, it was a lot more lull than activity. I was handing out ballots as a Ballot Inspector this time as we had a much smaller staff (6) and all positions had to be filled.
I volunteered to do this to be an EVID operator. Verifying identity by photo and signature of each voter for which I processed a voting pass. The voting pass is then taken to the table where the ballots are given in exchange for the voting pass. Special circumstances are if the voter doesn't come up on the EVID as being registered, they can request a provisional ballot which is reconciled after the election day. Address (and name) changes can be done on election day and the voter can vote if they are in that precinct, or they are sent to the correct precinct. Everyone in line to vote by 7 p.m. is allowed to vote, even after the polls are officially closed. A security guard and/or police officer is posted at the end of the line at 7 p.m. No one arriving after 7 p.m. (7:01 or 7:02) is allowed to join the line, nor to vote if there is no line. Some people take this news as harsh, but it is the law.
This general election we processed about 1000 voters. For a mid-term election, that is remarkable. The last general election in 2016, we processed about 800, in the same precinct, at the same polling site. The fact there was 14 days of early voting and mail-in ballots, that was a better than expected turnout. We were once again cut off from the news of the day, observed by poll watchers (stationed near the voting area by both major political parties, to watch the process), and visited several times by Poll Inspectors from Broward County.
We were coming to the close of another election day. Two men came in and sat at the table next to the voting booths entrance. They were recording with their cellphones. The Clerk went over to tell them they were not permitted in that area during voting hours, nor were they allowed to shoot video. They said they were waiting for the posting of the totals tapes. The Clerk said they could wait away from the voting area or outside. They left.
As we were processing the closing of the polls, breaking down the voting booths, the tables, packing up everything, and the VST operators and workers were clearing the VST machines of the cast ballots and placing them into the secure bags for transport, someone noticed those two men outside taking video through the windows. What would be the motivation for that?! (Remember, we had been cut off from all news reports.) The Clerk asked them to stop. They didn't. The pollworkers had not given consent to be filmed! Securing the ballots is not something open to the public normally. The Clerk went outside to emphatically ask them to stop filming. I helped obscure their view of the process. They were not official County Inspectors. We had nothing to hide but we also did not want our faces on some video on social media or podcast without our permission. The police were called, reports filled out, and they finally left. We were concerned that we might be followed home or harassed when we left the premises. There is a limit to invasion of privacy.
CONCLUSION
Once home, I found out how close the election was between the two candidates for senator and governor. I now understand why obscure "news" people would want to find some impropriety in the voting process that they might exploit for their own gain. It was still obnoxious and unnecessary. There was no impropriety. No mistakes (unless human error or machine error caused them). Procedures were followed. Inspectors inspected. Poll watchers watched. And now we wait for the results, whatever they may be. It looks like automatic recounts will ensue because of the closeness of the votes. Our democracy in action!
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