Your Ballot: Handled With Care by The Denver Elections Division

0 downloads 162 Views 2MB Size Report
Nov 7, 2016 - get the ballots ready to go into Signature Verification. (In the old days, these ... and activated. A digi
OFFICE OF THE CLERK AND RECORDER ELECTIONS DIVISION Amber F. McReynolds, Director

Debra Johnson Clerk and Recorder Public Trustee

Your Ballot: Handled With Care by The Denver Elections Division

“It took you all more than a week to count ballots?” Well, It's a bit more complicated than that. Our 24 Hour Ballot Drop-off Boxes opened the week of October 17 and early voting started the week of October 24, the same week we started processing ballots. However, nearly a third of the ballots we issued were returned on Monday November 7 and on Election Day.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

2

Let’s all pause for a minute and understand what it takes to process a single ballot and it will help to shed some light:

The 100,000 ballots dropped off on Election Day come together with nearly 200,000 others in a massive sorting operation in our Receiving Room, where they are organized, all facing the same direction, in mail trays. We have bipartisan teams working in the Receiving Room who get the ballots ready to go into Signature Verification. (In the old days, these teams would also have to manually remove the privacy tab but we now automate that process.)

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

3

Once ballots arrive in Signature Verification they go through automated sorting equipment. The ballots make their first pass through this machine at high speed, our first-in-the-nation laser technology removes the privacy tab covering your signature and the record of the ballot is recorded and activated. A digital image is then captured of the signature.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

4

If your signature matches, all good. If you used your grocery store checkout scribble instead of the signature on your voter registration, the files are distributed to bipartisan teams of election judges, who then examine signatures on the envelope and compare to the original signature of the voter that is on file. This takes about 2 hours to complete.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

5

The ballots are then loaded back into the automated sorting device and begin the same journey as before, through the high-speed sorter, but this time they are sorted by good or bad (meaning the ballot will be sent to Ballot Preparation or escalated for further review). This process takes about 2 hours to complete.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

6

The good ballots are then moved by a bipartisan team into our Ballot Prep room where we have six judges working on ballot extraction desks. Envelopes face away from the judge, ensuring that the voters name and ballot are no longer connected at this point.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

7

Once the ballots are opened, the judge hands them back to bipartisan teams of judges who unfold, flatten and "marry" up the second page. For the group of 25,000 it takes about 4 hours to complete - it's time consuming because they must be prepared with care for scanning. During the flattening process any tabs left on the ballot are removed and final checks are made for any paper clips, staples, etc. For the group of 25,000 it takes about 2 hours to pass through this station.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

8

Finally, the ballots are moved into our scanning operations, where they are scanned at a rate of about 6,000 per hour.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600

9

If a ballot does not read automatically they are then sent electronically for on-screen adjudication - where bipartisan teams of judges look at the ballot in question and ensures the ballot is marked correctly and makes any fixes using the Colorado Secretary of State’s Voter Intent Guidelines if a voter doesn’t fill in bubbles completely, or uses checkmarks or Xs to mark their vote.

Your mail ballot went on a lengthy journey. Of course we have these processes occurring simultaneously, so your ballot moves through the process as efficiently as possible, but you get the idea that we don't just "count" the ballot - there's much more to the process. People fought and died for the right for you to cast a ballot and we take the utmost care to make sure your ballot is handled properly whether it was mailed, dropped off in person, filled out in a ballot booth or marked on a tablet. The November 8, 2016 General Election will be officially certified on Tuesday, November 22.

200 West 14th Ave., Suite 100, Denver, CO 80204 Phone: 720-913-VOTE (8683)

TTY: 720-913-8657

www.denvervotes.org Fax: 720-913-8600