Elections official offers improvement plan

Dickerson outlines ideas for simplifying voting, training poll workers

RICHARD RUBIN   Charlotte Observer   20 April 2005

Mecklenburg County's election process strained last fall under the weight of heavy turnout and changing rules. Now, election officials are trying to patch the leaks revealed in 2004.

Elections director Michael Dickerson outlined an eight-point plan to county commissioners Tuesday, calling for additional training, more resources and better customer service.

Some changes await action by the county, the state legislature or the state board of elections. The plan would simplify the voting process and the counting.

"I don't envy the task you have," Republican commissioner Dan Bishop told Dickerson. "It's very difficult."

? Dickerson wants to increase training for poll workers, many of whom are elderly and may not have mastered new election rules or crowd-control techniques.

? More early voting sites could be added, perhaps at malls. Adding non-public sites would require state approval.

Early voting has become popular, said Democratic commissioner Dumont Clarke. "This is growing and the customers want it," he said.

? The board of elections recently split five precincts in fast-growing suburban areas, which will reduce crowding and lines.

? To reduce complaints about busy signals at the elections office, Dickerson proposed creating a pre-election call center where voters could get answers to common questions such as "Am I registered?" and "Where do I vote?" The new city-county 311 system could assume this role.

? The company that makes Mecklenburg's voting machines is preparing new software that will prevent double-counting of early-voting totals. In November, that error caused the elections board to release incorrect unofficial totals on election night.

? Dickerson is seeking more space for his staff, now in an office on Kenilworth Avenue. Early-voting lines caused parking tie-ups and irritated other tenants in the building, he said.

? The elections board wants to keep an attorney on retainer in case the county attorney has conflicts of interest. That happened last year when then-commissioner-elect Bishop was the attorney in a lawsuit over observing ballot counting.

? Provisional voting, which caused confusion last year, could be made simpler if each precinct had a separate electronic voting machine for provisionals, instead of punch cards. That would cost about $750,000. People vote provisional ballots if they are not in the precinct's voter book.

In Gaston County, the elections board is still searching for a new director to replace Sandra Page, who resigned after her staff failed to count more than 13,000 votes in the November election. Acting Director Mary Jane Garver said the Gaston elections board plans to decide by May.

The Board of Elections developed a checklist to help judges and poll workers make sure poll books and actual votes reconcile. In the last election, some voters left after signing the poll book, but without voting.

Gaston plans to hire more poll workers this year and improve training of the clerks who record signatures in the poll books. They'll also address proper setup for polls, Garver said.

Gaston County also may buy new voting machines. About 100 of the county's 339 voting machines were damaged by water from a malfunctioning toilet in January, causing $500,000 in damage. The county is still working with its insurance company to determine whether to repair or replace the damaged machines, Garver said.