9am - intro by county commissioner el Franco Lee
9:05am - assistant county attorney Douglas Rae offers his help and catches is up on the status of the voter ID requirement. It has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal district judge, that decision was upheld by the court of appeals. That had been appealed by the state of Texas to the Supreme Court, but the decision was stayed meaning it is still in force. One of seven forms of ID are required.
- attorney with Stan standarts office walks through the process for voting provisionally if a voter does not have acceptable ID.
- Sonya. An assistant with stanart's office goes over odds and ends.
- the size of Harris county requires that it conduct its elections differently than the law allows. The law is designed for smaller counties.
- by the way, I'm getting paid to be here! Plus breakfast.
- who cannot be an election judge? List includes office holders and campaign officials. Makes sense.
- one way I can go to jail: let someone in with campaign material. Class C misdemeanor. Electioneering.
- We must bathe! We must not smell bad! We must dress well! We might end up being on TV!
- the day to pick up election supplies is Halloween. Fitting. She's encouraged us to come in costume.
- I got a 50 cent raise! I'm going to make $11 an hour. Everyone else gets $9 an hour. That's just how valuable I am.
- If we do not open at 7am we have failed in our job! Failure is not an option! Great. I can always use additional stress.
- elected officials cannot walk around the polls. The county clerk and staff can. It's a class c misdemeanor to let an ejected official in the poll.
- new procedure: we have to call the clerk's office to let them know that we have opened the polls on time (or not).
- poll watchers are allowed, but must have a certificate stating who they are. It's another misdemeanor to get in the way of a poll watcher, but they can't interfere with voters.
- reviewing acceptable forms of ID. Texas allows fewer than other states. That's why it's been challenged in the city's. Other photo ID requirements have been accepted by the courts.
- what if the name on the poll book does not match the name on the ID? That's what I'm paid the big bucks to reconcile.
- is Michael Mouse the same person as Mickey Mouse? Look at the totality of the circumstances.
- they want us to be kind if someone has gained a lot of weight since they took their ID photo.
- I may have multiple precincts voting at my poll. Each may have a different list of candidates. That means they get different ballots.
1030am - new speaker. Michelle! She's talking about provisional ballots. This allows someone to cast a ballot who may not be eligible to vote. Maybe they do not have proper id. A question may exist that needs resolution. Once the issue is resolved the provisional ballot will be accepted if it is resolved favorably this is a pain in the butt. No one likes to do this. I don't like to do this.
- there's a big form to fill out to do this.
- the voter has six days to clear up the issue. The process is called curing.
- another way to go to jail: if I let a provisional voter vote regularly. And I'll get in big trouble if I lose the provisional ballot.
- Sonya is back. Walks over how we can and cannot assist voters.
- there is a different between an interpreter and an assistant. An assistant had to take an oath. This seems new to me.
- more ways to go to jail. To allow someone who cannot vote to vote, to not allow an eligible voter to vote. It is a felony to disclose how someone voted.
They threatened to keep us until 1pm, but were done by 11. I just made $33 before taxes! The next meeting will be instructions on how to physically set up the voting booth. Stay tuned.
They threatened to keep us until 1pm, but were done by 11. I just made $33 before taxes! The next meeting will be instructions on how to physically set up the voting booth. Stay tuned.
