Whether you're a poll worker or voter, if you see any signs of trouble at a precinct, long lines that may be discouraging voters, disputes between officials or campaigners standing outside, voting machines or scanners that aren't working, anything at all, scroll down to the bottom of the story and submit your comment, call the "WCPO Voter Hotline" at (513)852-4966 or email votingconcerns@wcpo.com.We want to let you know about a special I-Team effort coming up on Election Day. We're setting up a Voter Hotline where you can report any problems you see, and you can turn to us to monitor any questionable voting issues that come up Tuesday.
For months now we've heard accusations about problem registrations. But will the vote be fair come Election Day? We're teaming up with you to keep track, to keep it honest or at least shine a light on any questions that pop up.
We also want to let you know of some important changes this election that could mean your vote would get thrown out even though you're registered, if you don't prepare before you head to the polls.
While early voting may help alleviate lines Tuesday, other new rules will cost you time: ballots you fill in with pen and pencil, and paperwork you
have to bring to prove you live at the address where you are registered.
Alex Triantafilou chairs not only the Hamilton County Republican Party but also the Board of Elections. "You're required now to show an identification when you vote, a driver's license, a state ID, an energy bill to show that you live, a bank statement," he says.
But there's more. There could be many precincts at your polling place. Until this year your vote would count even if you placed it at at the wrong precinct. Not any more, says Democratic Party chair and Board of Elections member Tim Burke. "A voter, under today's current law, has to be at the right precinct when they cast their ballot. If they vote in the wrong precinct their vote won't count. And it didn't used to be like that."
So you have to make sure you're in the right spot of the recreation hall or basketball court.
But it's not just voters who have to learn. Every county is hiring thousands of poll workers who have to get four-hour training classes before election day. But Burke says, "They're like any other human beings. Mistakes do get made."
And that's why both parties will have people watching at the polls, and attorneys standing by. Burke says, "On our side of the political aisle there is a massive mode of protection effort being put in place that will include volunteers, observers in the polling places, lawyers ready to pounce if there's a problem. There are folks in place to take whatever action may be necessary to guarantee that people have the right to vote on election day."
The Republicans also are staffing for the day. Triantafilou says, "We have bipartisan teams across the board that double check everyone else's work. So there are many safeguards that we have in place to be sure the votes are counted properly and fairly."
Those safeguards include ballots with unique identifiers so they can't be scanned twice. The scanner will tell people if they've mistakenly voted for more than one candidate and give them a chance to re-vote. They'll also tell people if they've missed votes in case they want to take the ballot back. Different counties have different systems, but all the boards of elections echo Triantafilou's message: "We've done all we can do to make sure our machines are ready and our precincts captains are ready and that we're ready to have a smooth and fair and appropriate election."
The I-Team placed Freedom of Information Act requests with local boards of elections. We've compiled lists of precincts, addresses, how many voters are registered, how many can vote at one time...
Tuesday, whether you're a poll worker or voter, if you see any signs of trouble at a precinct, long lines that may be discouraging voters, disputes between officials or campaigners standing outside, voting machines or scanners that aren't working, anything at all, call the "WCPO Voter Hotline
" at (513)852-4966 or email me at
votingconcerns@wcpo.com I'll be airing and blogging on wcpo.com all day to let you know how it's going. We'll report any challenges that come up here and across Ohio.
