District pols aren’t the only ones counting days, fine-tuning strategies and laying out contingency plans for the upcoming election. The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics was buzzing earlier this week when I popped in.
Voting equipment was being tested, precinct captains were being trained, and special ballot clerks were learning their jobs. They’re the ones likely to be swamped on Sept. 14, when the three political parties — Democrats, Republicans and Statehood/Green — hold their primaries.
Rokey Suleman, BOEE’s executive director, and his 21 regular and 17 temporary staff members won’t be evaluated based on correction of past problems — ballot shortages, insufficient workers, and the appearance of phantom voters. They’ll rise or fall on their handling of no-excuse absentee voting, early voting, and same-day registration and voting — changes instituted this year by the D.C. Council.
Some national experts have said the unprecedented reforms being implemented in one election sets up the board to fail. There’s no question the pressure is on.
On Monday, Aug. 30, no-excuse absentee voting starts at BOEE headquarters only. By week’s end — Saturday, Sept. 4 — four more sites will open for early voting, including same-day registration. Voting at those locations will continue until Sept. 13. Then comes the big day with all its headaches.
Two special ballot clerks will be assigned to each polling station; the elections agency is still hiring people for that position, as well as technicians.
But all eyes will be on the special ballot workers; they will handle provisional ballots. People who show up at the wrong polling place or whose information does not match BOEE documents will be asked to file provisional ballots.
Same-day registrants also will file special ballots. Voters must produce appropriate identification — a driver’s license, utility bill, government check or bank statement — to receive a ballot. On Sept. 15, BOEE will send out a mailing to all same-day voters. If that mail is returned, the ballot may not get counted.
But the decision to exclude voters won’t be made without a fight. Representatives from the campaigns of the top two mayoral candidates already have met with BOEE legal staff, according to agency spokeswoman Alysoun McLaughlin.
Traci Hughes, from Vincent Gray’s campaign, and Sean Madigan, from Adrian M. Fenty, said they haven’t decided on the number of poll watchers and lawyers they will deploy.
Based on the number of changes being instituted, Madigan said it “wouldn’t be surprising if something went wrong. [But] it’s paramount we have a fair and transparent election.”
BOEE’s Suleman said the agency has technology in “place to monitor all five early voting locations” simultaneously and will be comparing Maryland and Virginia voters’ lists to catch possible violators.
“[Technically] this is a federal election,” he continued. “So, fraud is a federal crime.”
Still, the way Gray and Fenty have gone after each other, don’t expect it to end when the polls close. The BOEE has set aside Sept. 22 through Sept. 24 for hearings on contested ballots.
Let the squabbling continue.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
