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Recent legislation has ushered in a new era for DC voting procedures, providing voters with a myriad of changes aimed at preventing the errors that have plagued previous elections. However, some area residents are concerned that the changes are “too much, too soon,” and will lead to even more confusion at the polls in what is already gearing up to be a hotly contested September primary.

The new procedures set forth in the recent Omnibus Election Reform Act of 2009 include:

• Allowing 17-year olds to register to vote, provided they will be 18 at the time of the general election.
• Allowing voters to cast their ballots early at select voting stations up to two weeks before the Sept. 14 primary, starting Aug. 30.
• The implementation of new, more easily auditable electronic voting equipment.
• Not requiring a reason to request an absentee ballot.
• Allowing DC residents to register to vote on the day of the election.

The changes will also change the atmosphere of the polling stations, where an increased number of better trained poll workers will be assisting voters (who will be allowed to wear candidate paraphernalia inside) and encouraging them to use the new electronic voting machines.  

New Machines
The September 2008 primary election was fraught with controversy in what Board of Elections and Ethics administrators have since determined was a “pure equipment malfunction,” causing the miscounting of thousands of votes.

“[This year] we have all new machines, new software, a new vendor,” said Council member Mary Cheh (Ward-3), who conducted an investigation of the 2008 primary errors. “We also have a paper trail for all votes and auditing procedures.”

Cheh also cited her confidence in the election board’s recent thorough testing to ensure the new equipment will function properly.

Rokey W. Suleman II, the DCBOEE executive director, explained how in addition to reaffirming faith in the voting process through greater transparency, the elections board is also trying to increase turnout at the polls.

The elections board has met “one on one” with each of the voting precinct captains, Suleman said, and every poll worker must pass a three-hour training session familiarizing them with the new technology and the atmosphere of their specific polling station.

“We are weeding out those poll workers who are not comfortable with the technology through training and poll worker assessments,” he added.

The elections board has also implemented electronic poll books to document each voter as they check in at the polling station. 

A Day At The Polls
The rules for registering for the September primary are the same as in the past, except that 17-year olds will be allowed to register, provided they will be 18 by the time of the general election. Sixteen-year olds will also be allowed to “pre-register” to vote.

New registration cards will be sent to all registered voters in August, equipped with a barcode to be scanned at the polling stations allowing for a quicker check in. Voters can still bring their old registration cards to check in.

DC residents may also register on the same day they cast their ballot. These voters must present a government photo ID, bank statement, government check, paycheck or utility bill displaying their name and current address. They will then cast “special” ballots, held separately from the general votes until the elections board can confirm the veracity of the registrants’ information.

“Same day registration is great, but we prefer that you register beforehand,” said Executive Director Suleman. “It’s not going to be a quick process.”

Once polls open on primary day at 7:00 a.m., voters will be able to use “widgets” from the elections board website (dcboee.org) to determine the length of the lines at their polling stations and whether the station is functioning normally.

Upon arriving at their polling place, voters can cast a paper ballot or use the new iVotronic election voting equipment. A trained poll worker will need to activate the machine for each new voter, and will be available to help guide the voter through using the new hardware.

Starting Aug. 30 to the day before the Sept. 14 primary, voters will be allowed to cast paper or electronic ballots early at the Board of Elections office in the One Judiciary Square building (441-4 4th St. NW) from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday to Saturday.

Four satellite polling stations will also open beginning Sept. 4:

• Chevy Chase Community Center (5601 Connecticut Ave. NW)
• Turkey Thicket Recreation Center (1100 Michigan Ave. NE)
• Hine Junior High School (335 8th St. SE)
• SE Tennis and Learning Center (701 Mississippi Ave. SE)

These sites will only have electronic voting, said Suleman, as maintaining paper ballots for each city precinct would be too expensive.

Change We Can Believe In?
To help familiarize the general public with the changes, elections board representatives have been advertising the new elections procedures and equipment at community meetings and forums, such as the recent Ward 8 Democrats’ primary endorsement forum at Mathews Memorial Baptist Church.

Sandy Allen, the former City Council member representing Ward 8, attended the forum, and tried out the new equipment, selecting dummy candidates on the screen. With the step-by-step assistance of Voter Outreach Coordinator Kathy Fairly, Allen was able to successfully make her choices.

Council member Cheh emphasizes this actually is not that much of a change to the voting process, pointing to the paper ballots at the polling places and the available registration process identical to previous elections. She also cites the additional training poll workers receive to help each voting location run even more smoothly.

“All of these [changes] are enhancements,” added Cheh. “They aren’t something new that someone has to grapple with if you don’t want to.” 

War Games
These changes to the election process, particularly the wide-open early voting schedule, have prompted new approaches from the candidates and their campaign staffs.

Earlier this summer Mayor Fenty pocket vetoed City Council legislation calling for the prohibition of paying people to vote. A strategist for the Fenty camp and friend of the Mayor encouraged the veto because he believed the Council, led by mayoral hopeful chairman Vincent Gray, was trying to undercut Fenty campaign-sponsored concerts to register voters in the low-income African American community, according to an August Washington Post report.

Later in August the Fenty team made an unsuccessful appeal to the Board of Elections and Ethics to “interpret” election law to allow Republicans and Independents to vote in the September Democratic primary.

“Obviously any time you have something new it presents a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunity,” said Adam Rubinson, campaign manager for Vincent Gray, of their approach to the new election policies.

Rubinson adds that voting on actual election day will not be “as ‘do or die’’ as it used to be.