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Highlands Today

Poll Workers Get Final Instructions

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By GARY PINNELL

Highlands Today

Published: November 3, 2008

SEBRING - Just a few days ago, during early voting, Elections Supervisor Joe Campbell got a complaint. A voter claimed the poll worker tried to look at the completed ballot.

Campbell didn't believe it, but he realized a new rule was needed.

"Keep the ballot in the sleeve," he instructed 400 workers last week at their final training seminar before Tuesday's presidential election. "Put it out partially, and then slide it in.

"And I want you to say something to them. Say, 'I don't want to see your ballot.'"

The poll worker should keep his eyes on the person casting the ballot, not on the ballot itself, Campbell instructed.

"Don't run off, because you won't hear the machine beep if there's something wrong," Campbell said.

Campbell went over dozens of fine points with the workers who will sign in voters, check IDs, control the crowds, watch the poll watchers and the lawyers, and make sure the Nov. 4 election process goes smoothly.

Other Points

Expect more provisional ballots than ever, Campbell said.

Voters with an expired Florida driver's license can cast a provisional ballot, which doesn't go into the voting machine on election day. They're put in a separate envelope and opened by the canvassing board, who determines if the ballots will count.

•Accept out-of-state IDs for proof of signature, but not for a picture ID.

"That's pretty dumb," said a woman in the front row. "I agree," Campbell agreed, but that's what Florida election rules mandate.

•Offer a provisional ballot to any voter who has incomplete or unverified information, he instructed.

•"Some of you will have poll watchers," Campbell advised the precinct workers. Florida is a swing state, and in 2000 a cloud was cast on the legitimacy of the Bush-Gore election because of voting irregularities. There was no controversy in Highlands County though, and Campbell doesn't want suspicion this year either.

If the voter refuses to cast a provisional ballot, the poll watcher - a Democrat, a Republican, a presidential candidate's attorney or a non-partisan election watch group - may follow the voter outside, he said.

"They'll be asking about intimidation, and if you offer a provisional ballot... In Highlands County, we're doing everything by the law," Campbell insisted.

•All others, including candidates and sign-wavers, must stay at least 100 feet from the door, Campbell said. He encouraged the election clerk to use the 100-foot tape he is given to measure and mark the distance, and to enforce the rule

The exception is researchers and the media who are conducting exit polls with voters. Photography is permitted outside, but not inside the polling place, Campbell said.

"Now, who knows the golden rule?" Campbell asked his audience of poll workers at the Agri-Civic Center. "Don't talk politics. I don't want to see any buttons, no hats, no donkeys, no elephants. I don't want you talking politics with anyone, not even each other."

If there are lines when the polls close at 7 p.m., a deputy will shout, "Hear ye, hear ye. The election is over." The deputy then stands behind the last person in line, Campbell said. The people in line can vote, late arrivals are turned away.

Gary Pinnell can be reached at gpinnell@highlandstoday.com or 863 386-5828.

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