Smooth E-Vote Predicted as Absentee Snags Arise

Eight months after Orange County’s inaugural use of electronic voting machines was plagued by problems, election officials expect the process to run more smoothly Tuesday -- in part because poll workers are better trained and more experienced.

The upbeat prognosis comes as more Orange County residents than ever -- nearly 1.5 million -- are registered to vote.

But on the eve of the election, problems unrelated to the electronic voting systems were surfacing.

Among more than 400,000 people seeking absentee ballots, about 2,000 had not received their ballots in the mail or discovered that they were not registered, even though they had submitted paperwork through the Department of Motor Vehicles, said Neal Kelley, the county’s chief deputy registrar of voters.

County election officials said they could not explain why some absentee voters did not receive ballots, but said they took a digital photograph of each addressed envelope as proof that it was mailed.

Additionally, an unspecified number of absentee voters who mailed their completed ballots found them a few days later back in their mailboxes.

It’s possible, Kelley said, that postal workers mistakenly scanned the bar code on the back of the envelope -- where the voters’ addresses are printed -- causing the ballots to be returned, Kelley said.

Voters who have not received their absentee ballots can cast provisional ballots Tuesday, either at a polling place or at the registrar’s office, 1300 S. Grand Ave., Building C, Santa Ana.

Those who have not been added to the rolls can cast provisional ballots, which will be counted if election officials confirm registration.

“Every single voter that calls in with a problem is a vital concern to us. We’re trying desperately to make sure every vote is counted,” Kelley said.

Frank Barbaro, chairman of the Democratic Party of Orange County, said the troubles are alarming.

However, he said, his main concern remains the electronic voting system and the absence of paper receipts to assure voters that the machines properly recorded their votes.

Voters have the option of requesting a paper ballot. Secretary of State Kevin Shelley has instructed all counties using electronic voting machines to make paper ballots available.

“I have substantial concerns on a number of different factors,” Barbaro said. “Last March ... a number of voters didn’t know how to use the machines and cast their ballots before they were finished.”

Orange County was one of several California counties that experienced difficulties with electronic voting systems in California’s March primary election.

Some Orange County voters said they mistakenly pressed the “cast ballot” button before they had made all of their choices -- with no hope of retrieving their ballots to finish. Thousands of voters were issued ballots for the wrong precincts, meaning they could not vote in the proper races but instead voted in contests in which they were ineligible.

Registrar Steve Rodermund said his election day staff of about 7,000 volunteer poll workers will be better trained than those in March. Poll workers were given more hands-on time with the voting machines and received training materials to review at home. For the returning volunteers, he said, the experience of having worked with the machines in a previous election will be an enormous benefit.

Because Tuesday’s general election involves fewer candidates than the primary, only one ballot form will be used at each polling place. As a result, elections officials say, it will be impossible for voters to receive a wrong ballot.

Also, signs posted at polling places will warn voters not to press the “cast ballot” button until they’ve voted in every race.

“We were able to take the lessons learned from March and incorporate that into our training program,” Rodermund said. “I am exceedingly confident that when you hit the ‘cast vote’ button, that what you put in the machine is recorded faithfully.”

Volunteer Paul Kay, a computer support technician from Fullerton, faulted election officials in March for not informing poll workers that they would be dealing with multiple ballots at the same polling place.

He said that the training for the November election was much more useful.

“It was night and day,” he said. “The people were professional. They were enthusiastic. They had good materials. The video was useful.”

He predicted that Tuesday’s election will run more efficiently than it did in March. “The big problem was choosing the right ballot style ... and this time there’s only going to be one.”