Sarantou asks that his case be dismissed ????

As someone who works at a polling place every election, I have been watching this story with real interest.

Provisional ballots are not easy. Typically, someone walks in to the polling place and is shocked that their name is not in the book. "But I always vote here!," they cry.

We double-check the address. Yes, according to the address on your ID, you should be in our book, but you're not -- clerical error downtown at the BOE, you haven't bothered to vote in the last five elections, whatever.

Or maybe they walk in without ID that shows a current address in our precinct. But they swear they live there. Now, for all I know, they could be claiming this at every other polling place in town. But I cannot deny someone the right to vote, so I have them vote provisional, and give them a paper that says they have 10 days to show up at the downtown BOE with their ID, and if they don't, the vote won't be counted. I have no idea if they ever show up or not.

And once it's time to close up, the BOE says to put the provisionals in one satchel, but there are three different satchels and it's easy to get mixed up. So, some could easily be put aside and the BOE doesn't discover them for awhile.

Trying to sort all this out is like trying to untie the Gordian knot. Wish I could say it was any different.

Annie, if it's that easy to get something mixed up, then the system or the people are failing again. Systems like this should be bulletproof. It's like that latest travesty of the U.S. Census. They've been doing it for over 200 years. They do it each decade. And so there should be no surprises that are worth mentioning. And yet in news item after news item, the Census blew up its computer system multiple times, and had huge training issues, huge hiring issues, and other such farces. How much more time and money and personnel are needed at the level of government before people finally stop FUCKING UP?

We conduct 1-2 elections annually. If the people running these elections can't get it right each time, then they should be fired and replaced with people who DO have more than the IQ of the average piece of fucking lawn furniture.

Also, I've voted provisionally. I did exactly what I was told, and it probably worked out. I filled out the form, then voted, then before the time limit expired, appeared downtown at the BOE to present proof of residency. I guess you've gotta care, and particularly in my case, you've gotta not be committing vote fraud.

I am not defending the system, simply trying to explain it.

Part of the problem is that we only do it twice a year. If it was something we did every week, everyone would remember all the millions of details (and I swear, it seems like millions when you're running an election). NOT that I want an election a week!

As it is, we have one or two training sessions before each election. There is a high turnover rate, which means that 25-50% of your workers may be newbies. In addition, the state changes instructions at nearly every election, so there is a perpetual learning curve.

Finally, the pay is not great for the amount of time you spend in training and on the actual day of the election. You get mostly folks who have nothing better to do, and there is often a reason for that.

If the people running these elections can't get it right each time, then they should be fired and replaced with people who DO have more than the IQ of the average piece of fucking lawn furniture.

Think it's so easy? Call the BOE and offer to work the next election. Or send in your application here: http://www.co.lucas.oh.us/index.aspx?NID=80

Good job on the explanation, Anniecski. I think your comment on the workers being folks who have nothing better to do is fairly accurate, although I contend that Sylvania Township seems to give the lie to that one.

I live in Sylvania Township.

The election process has never been bulletproof and likely never will be in our lifetimes. I hope I'm wrong about this, because it would be nice to vote in an election that's accurate. All candidates know this as fact. Certainly Sarantou knew it before he ran for office, and his protests were likely done as much to illustrate the imperfection rather than reverse the results. Again.

With technology today we could have an accurate election, at least locally. But with the people involved... not so much.

This board of elections has had some serious problems in the past. One documented case involved putting a Sunday Beer/Wine sales initiative on the ballot in the wrong preceinct. I personally know that they initially denied it and then tried to kick it under the rug - as I was the one who first brought it to their attention. I voted for Contrada. However, I think Sarantou did the right thing in persuing how the provisionals were counted. Now the new Ohio Secretary of State's office is going to take a look at how this board operates. I support that. There is an appearance of irregularities that needs to be proven or dispelled.

Thanks, Anniecski for serving as a poll worker. I wish more people like you would take the time to do that job.

Yes, Annie, I do think it's easy. Where it fails is obviously from the top, down. Anyone who can use their brain in an educated and logical fashion can operate a system of machines and methods. But volunteering, just to get told by existing BOE employees to do it the wrong way, is not how a system is fixed.

What I implied before, remains true: A system that's this broken can only be fixed by firing the current employee base and then bringing in new ones. That's up to the state to perform, and there was no way that the previous Democrat administration would enact such discipline. Perhaps Kasich will find himself having the minerals to do it.