ELECTION OBSERVATION TOMORROW (technically OT...)

Mon Nov 3 22:50:20 MST 2008

OK, folks, here's where we're at.

The county has rejected as "too late" our requests for additional
observers.  But that's OK.  I've been saying we need two types of
observers: some at the polling places doing photographs of the
"end-of-day" tapes showing vote totals (shorter work period), and
others at the central receiving locations (the "night owls" there
possibly to midnight).

Only the receiving station monitors need party credentials.  The folks
doing the "video the vote" project at the precincts can be "just plain
folks".  So that's where y'all are going if interested - we're taking
the earlier volunteers from last week with credentials and sending
them to the receiving stations.

You have two choices: pick a local precinct if you don't want to drive
far (nothing wrong with that) or IF you can, head for one of these
University-area precincts (to see how the "college vote" is going:

0872	
BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR LUTHERAN CH	
1337 W 11TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: FELLOWSHIP HALL

0873	
TEMPE WOMEN'S CLUB	
1290 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: AUDITORIUM

0874	
CITY IN THE DESERT METRO CHR	
1040 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: FELLOWSHIP HALL

0875	
KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS LODGE	
1606 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: MEETING ROOM

0876	
PALACE OF PRAISE MINISTRIES	
1835 E UNIVERSITY DR, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: SANCTUARY

0877	
ST MARGARET'S CATHOLIC CHURCH	
2435 E MCARTHUR DR, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: HALL

0878	
TEMPE WOMEN'S CLUB	
1290 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: AUDITORIUM

0879	
TEMPE HIGH SCHOOL	
1730 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: GYM LOBBY

0880	
UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH	
340 E 15TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: FELLOWSHIP ROOM	

0881	
RANCHO LAS PALMAS	
1249 E SPENCE AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: CLUBHOUSE

0882	
UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH	
340 E 15TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: FELLOWSHIP ROOM

0883	
ARBOUR PARK APARTMENTS	
1901 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281	
Location: CLUBHOUSE

0884	
CONTEMPO TEMPE MOBILE HOME PARK	
2609 W SOUTHERN AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85282	
Location: BALLROOM

OR if you want to go north of there to check out areas covered in the
neck-and-neck Lord/Shaddeg congressional race (CD3):

0752
CAMELBACK BIBLE CH	
3900 E STANFORD DR, PARADISE VALLEY, AZ 85253
Location: RM 209

0654
SQUAW PEAK SCHOOL	
4601 N 34TH ST, PHOENIX, AZ 85018	
Location: MULTIPURPOSE ROOM

0380
FAITH CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHR OF THE NAZARENE	
5334 E THUNDERBIRD RD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85254	
Location: SANCTUARY

0267
AMBASSADOR HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHR	
2728 W MARYLAND AVE, PHOENIX, AZ 85017	
Location: ANDREWS HALL

0260
LIBERTY SCHOOL	
5125 E MARILYN RD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85254	
Location: COMMUNITY ROOM

...or anything else in CD3.

Here's why these districts: there's going to be chaos with the college
vote, and the Lord/Shaddeg race in CD3 will be a key race that could
get "stepped on".  Another race we're going to look carefully at in
the after-election public records analysis is the county attorney's
race but that's county-wide.

Please report back to me with which precinct you're gonna hit.

INSTRUCTIONS:

You want to get there by 6:30pm, or 7:00pm at the latest.  DO NOT wear
political pins/t-shirts/etc.  M'kay?  Anything that might be confused
with one, probably skip that.

DO BRING: still-image digital camera (anything reasonably modern
should do), video camera optional, notebook, pen.

Step one: monitor the situation for long lines.  If you see evidence
of same, take pictures or video from a distance (like across the
street) back far enough so that individuals would be hard to make out,
but the nature of the lines are obvious.

Once that's done, put the camera away and just wait for the polls to
close.  Document how long that took.  ONLY once the voters are gone
can the cameras come out and document what's going on in the polling
place as they close up shop.  DO NOT touch any ballot materials
(important).

At some point AFTER 8:00pm, ask them to lay the "poll tapes" down on a
table so that you can photograph them.  They may get hinky but stay
cool, politely insist as it's the right of the public to do so.  Once
you do, note whether they're signed yet...if not, ask them if they'll
be signing the tapes.  (Sidenote: the rulebook says they should,
Maricopa County elections pollworker training skipped that part.
Don't pester 'em over it, just document yet another screwup by this
county (and whoa are there lots, I'll give you the skinny in a bit).

The reason for the 8:00pm thing is that per the rules, you can't
"release poll information" until one hour after polls close or 8:00pm,
whichever comes first.  In theory, if it's 7:45 and you take a
picture, you could rush out and modem it to a blog or whatever.
Silly, but there it is.  The good news is, even if the last voter is
out of there at 7:01, it'll take 'em an hour-plus to get things
gathered up and boxed.  If it looks like they're going to seal up the
polltapes, politely ask if they'll hold those out until just after
8:00pm so you can photograph them.

If they're being completely anal about it and it seems unlikely
they'll allow pics, better to just go to another precinct nearby and
photograph those.

The point is two-fold: check to see what the situation is with lines
and such, and get a snapshot image of the vote totals before they head
off to the central tabulator by car and modem.

FINAL STEP: when they're taking the material back to the regional
collection facility, there's supposed to be two people of different
parties in the car/truck/moped/whatever.  Do check for that, and
photograph any solo-occupant vehicles with polling materials!  We
think they're slacking on that.

It's important because the ballot boxes can be easily opened while
bypassing the county-supplied seals!  Basically they're using these
cheap stackable plastic crates with the two interlocking lids.  Each
lid side is held on by a steel hinge pin that can be drift-punched out
without leaving a trace.  We bought an identical crate at Fry's
Electronics for $12.99 and a centerpunch set at WalMart for $7.34 - we
*know* this is a potential issue.

BONUS POINTS: tail 'em to the pickup facility.

EPIC BONUS POINTS: do so without 'em spotting you and videotape any
screwball diversions or attempts to "lose" you.  You'll end up a
Youtube hero if you want :).

EMail back to this group (withheld from PLUG) with which precinct you
want to dig into, so we don't end up at the same places.

FOR MORE INFO:

This is all based on Bev Harris' work at:

http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/78709.html

For a hilarious example of "ballot car chases", see also:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUf9Ef8Ufg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOESAfrPSKI

...and some guidelines for THAT process at:

http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71620.html

Have fun, stay safe, drop me a line regarding your "take".

Jim March
916-370-0347