Tom Cleland, Election Judge

August 9, 2022 was my first day serving as an election judge. I asked for the easiest job, and I was assigned as ballot counter judge, which is the judge closest to the ballot counter machine. I instructed voters how to insert their ballots into the machine, and then waited for the machine to scan the ballot to make sure the ballot was not spoiled. I believe it was an ES&S intElect DS200 Digital Image Scanner.

When the polls close, the official results are documented using four methods which need to match: the modem send, a flash drive which must be snipped out of the machine, a paper tape which is similar to a cash register receipt, and the ballots themselves. When the ballot compartment was opened, I was surprised how messy the stack was. The ballots fall into an open space, and I was reminded of those blue postal collection boxes which I have worked with in the past. Two judges had to jog the ballots to get them into orderly stacks. So we could see the ballots as a whole, but we were not looking at individual ballots or trying to count them by hand. From there the ballots went into a white cardboard box, which sat unsealed on the floor while we took down the signs, equipment and tables. I kept the box in the corner of my eye the entire time.

We had five judges working when the polls closed, and we all signed three copies of the paper tape, and a large rectangular adhesive label which served as a seal for the white cardboard box with the ballots in it.

My understanding is that there is supposed to be party balance, though I did not find out the party affiliations of my fellow judges. I was surprised that only the head judge would be delivering the ballots, materials and equipment to City Hall, but I was told I was welcome to follow there and observe the process. Once at Plymouth City Hall, there was a queue of cars along the circular drive to the front door there. A City of Plymouth employee came out to meet our precinct head judge, and used a dolly to move the ballot box and poll book iPad equipment inside the building while our head judge parked the car. I followed the city employee who said the ballots would be kept under lock and key. He placed our white cardboard box alongside others on the floor of what looked to be a conference room. I asked if I could look at the seal, and verified that my signature appeared on the outside of the box. When I left the room it was empty and the door was open, but he said it would be locked later.

By then our head judge was in the building, and I followed her into the council chambers, where she delivered the flash drive and many other materials, which were sorted into numerous blue bins at the front of the room. I then followed our head judge to a table outside the council chambers, where she delivered the paper receipts and a number of other forms. Since I was there I was invited to be the second signature on a form having to do with what we were turning in. On the way out there was one more stop involving the time sheet so we could get paid. The head judge modified my time since I had made the trip to City Hall. Our Plymouth Precinct 21 had 479 votes out of about 2200 registered voters, which they said was more than usual for a primary.

I got involved because I was concerned about election integrity. If there is cheating, as far as I can tell, it would have to be at another step in the process. I did not serve on the mail-in ballot board, so I cannot speak to that. I cannot speak to the chain of custody of the white cardboard box after we drop it off. If there are shenanigans in the machine, then that could affect the modem send, the flash drive, and the paper tape. I did not look to see if there were any secret compartments in the machine, I doubt that is the case. There’s also the electronic poll books with the voter registration data, and those totals must match.

My understanding is that the state does a spot check of certain precincts, where they hand count the ballots to make sure they match. To get away with cheating, they would either need to have confederate partners doing the counting, or they would need to intercept the white cardboard box and replace it with something that would match the machine totals, as far as I can tell. I cannot speak to that part of the process.

In France, they are able to hand count 32 million ballots within a few hours. But my understanding is that they only do one election at a time. Here in the USA, we can have federal, state, and local candidates up and down the ballot. We might need more election workers, but I believe a hand count is workable.

Those are my observations. Let’s all continue to learn about this all-important process.