‘Isolated problem’ at the polls should serve as lesson

Now that the primary election has passed, all political eyes here are focused on November's general.

But while the presidential contest and some down-ticket congressional and legislative races are grabbing the most news, voters should stop to think about the integrity of their vote.

Last Tuesday, so few Clark County voters participated in the election that it seemed poll workers outnumbered those casting ballots. The low numbers, though, didn't necessarily mean staffers had a handle on things -- even with fewer than 8 percent of voters hitting the polls that day.

One minor example at a Las Vegas precinct should serve as a good lesson as we approach November. This case came to light because the voter affected just happened to be the chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party -- a man who is not known as a shrinking violet.

John Hunt went with his wife and a friend to vote shortly after polls opened Tuesday.

All three Democrats were given cards to insert in the electronic machines. All three began pushing buttons in the non-partisan races for the judiciary. All three somehow initially overlooked the fact that Shelley Berkley didn't pop up on the machine even though the congresswoman faced a primary challenge.

Hunt and Co. also live in a precinct where Berkley's race was the lone Democratic primary.

After they cast ballots, Hunt said, it suddenly dawned on them that none of them voted for Berkley. They looked at their receipts - blue, indicating Democrats. They asked the poll workers and the supervisor.

Since it was before 7:30 a.m., the supervisor opened the lock box where voting cards are inserted after ballots are cast. Twelve cards were inside -- nine Democrats and three Republicans. All 12 had been given non-partisan voting cards. Since the votes were cast, there was no way to go back to let any of the voters participate in the congressional primary.

Hunt called Berkley's office, phoned the registrar of voters and even put in a courtesy call to state GOP Chairperson Sue Lowden to tell her some of her voters may have been affected.

With so much scrutiny about voting machines, few actually focus any attention on the staff manning elections. This is a case of human error that wasn't supposed to happen. "It's not one poll worker, it's two and neither will be poll workers again in the future," said County Registrar Larry Lomax.

While the Hunt case was "an isolated problem," it is evidence that despite training and vetting of election staff, errors occur. "They were very senior citizens," Lomax said, describing the women.

During a primary election, a voter is supposed to be asked twice to verify precinct and party. At the sign-in desk the voter is supposed to receive a card with a sticker indicating party affiliation. Blue is Democrat, yellow Republican and white non-partisan. In this case the poll worker just gave everyone white stickers.

Maybe she was colorblind.

The second poll worker never verified the voter's precinct or party affiliation and simply handed each one a non-partisan card for the machine.

There were no widespread reports of similar errors anywhere statewide Tuesday, according to secretary of state spokesman Robert Walsh. "I guess it comes down to poll worker training and the inevitability of occasional human error," Walsh said.

At my own precinct, I was held at the signature table for a while because the poll worker didn't understand a partially legible stamped instruction that was on the sign-in sheet in the column for my name.

It was the beginning of the word "signature." The second word was smudged.

I'm an inveterate voter -- every primary, every general. So, it didn't think I was being classified inactive or ineligible.

The supervisor eventually approved me and on I went. But I'm someone who's very used to voting and familiar with the electronic machines, too.

Imagine if I were a first-time voter. Might I have confidence to wait out the discrepancy? Might I feel as though I were being unduly questioned or intimidated simply because of some human error?

Voters should consider Tuesday's primary a lesson. You are your best advocate. Take your sample ballot to the polls. If it doesn't match up with the machine, somebody screwed up.

And if you're one of the scores who have registered at a library, grocery store or community event, you really must double-check your registration.

You can do that at the election center on the secretary of state's Web site: www.silverstate08.com.

If you vote on an electronic machine, click the button to print a verifiable receipt. Check your selections, scrolling all the way through all of the pages, to make sure they match up. They should all reflect your vote, and if they don't, you can change it. The printed record also ensures your vote will be counted in the event of some kind of catastrophic power failure or computer meltdown.

In November, there will undoubtedly be long lines to vote. Poll workers will be swamped. Errors will occur. So prepare now to be a defensive voter.

Look out for mistakes by others or you may find the mistake is yours.

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.