April 21, 2008
This is the unedited and modified version of the
letter to the Intelligencer printed today. See the italicized lines of the last
two paragraphs for the unedited thoughts that especially reflect my experience as voting integrity activist. It’s a
long letter; I’m appreciative to the Intell for publishing most of it.
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Last-minute voting
tips
To the Editor:
For this important primary, all over the state, ‘get out the vote’ by encouraging others
to vote in large numbers. If there are unseen, unknown problems with the computerized voting, your candidate will be more
likely to win if there are large numbers of votes for him/her to overcome a possible error rate of the machine’s software.
As a Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Judge of Elections
and voting integrity advocate, I offer some suggestions for Election Day, especially for newly registered voters, who need
to take ID, such as your signed voter registration card, or driver’s license or utility bill. Returning voters don’t
need ID. Your signature, matching your signature on record, serves as proof of your identity.
Danaher voting machines are used in my county
of Bucks as well as the following Pennsylvania
counties: Philadelphia, Dauphin, Berks, Monroe,
Delaware, and the state of Delaware. In the
voting booth for the Danaher machine, you will see red blinking lights for each candidate. Upon choosing your selection, the
red blinking lights of your choices will turn solid red. When all your selections are made, then push the large green VOTE
button. Most importantly, be sure the screen then goes blank. You are now finished
voting. However, if you leave without pressing that green vote button at the
end, your selections are still on the screen and are to be erased by the workers!
To cast a write-in vote, follow written instructions
inside the booth and ask pollworkers for instructions. In this process, don’t push on the write-in door slot to get
to the paper tape, since this could cause machine to malfunction or paper to jam. Don’t write in the name of a candidate
already on the ballot.
If
any problem is observed with machine malfunctions, or long lines or other problems, or for even simple questions, speak to
your Judge of Elections and report any problem to both the national Election Protection line, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, and locally,
call Mary Ann Gould, Director of Coalition for Voting Integrity, at 215-357-5206.
Polls are open 7
a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday, April 22. We the people can shape our future, if
we participate in civic activities, starting with the vote. As Ben Franklin admonishes
us from our past--it’s our Republic if we can keep it.
Ruth Matheny
Co-Director, Coalition for Voting Integrity
Judge of Elections, Doylestown Boro 2-2
