As much as three weeks before Election Day, San Diego County’s touch-screen voting machines were scattered throughout the region, sitting in poll workers’ homes and garages. These machines, a critical player in American democracy today, were the subject of much concern, and their performance on Nov. 7 was closely watched. Little attention has been paid, however, to the volunteers who stored the machines leading up to the election, transported them to the polls on Election Day and inspected them as problems arose.
Many of these civic-minded volunteers, paid a minimal amount for the 16-hour day, had never worked at the polls before. And while many touch-screen inspectors were adults, some were 17-year-old high school students who volunteered in order to complete school community service requirements or government class assignments.
El Programa de trabajadores electorales estudiantiles, que comenz\u00f3 en el condado de San Diego en 1998, ha brindado a miles de estudiantes de secundaria la oportunidad de trabajar en los recintos electorales desde su inicio, aunque a los estudiantes no se les confi\u00f3 el equipo de votaci\u00f3n hasta la elecci\u00f3n m\u00e1s reciente.
De hecho, m\u00e1s de 1,500 estudiantes de \u00faltimo a\u00f1o de secundaria se desempe\u00f1aron como trabajadores electorales en todo el condado este noviembre, frente a los 200 de junio, con 304 sirviendo como inspectores de pantalla t\u00e1ctil responsables de almacenar las m\u00e1quinas antes de las elecciones.
"This is the first time we’ve allowed [high school students] to be anything other than clerks. They didn’t go to training before," said San Diego County Registrar of Voters Mikel Haas. "The kids all showed up. They are as trustworthy and as dedicated as the adults. They learn fast and are not intimidated by any technological devices. Their parents, teachers and schools are behind them. We haven’t had an issue with them. They’re diamonds."
Los estudiantes de al menos 16 a\u00f1os con un promedio de calificaciones de 2.5 puntos, la recomendaci\u00f3n de un maestro y el permiso de los padres son elegibles para el programa y pueden optar por servir como empleados sin capacitaci\u00f3n o como inspectores de pantalla t\u00e1ctil.
Arthur Miramontes, un estudiante de \u00faltimo a\u00f1o de 17 a\u00f1os de Hilltop High School en Chula Vista, recibi\u00f3 cuatro m\u00e1quinas "" tres pantallas t\u00e1ctiles y una m\u00e1quina para hacer tarjetas "" para llevar a las urnas despu\u00e9s de su orientaci\u00f3n. El trabajo electoral lo ayud\u00f3 a cumplir con el requisito de servicio comunitario de su escuela.
To date, the "sleepover" policy that grants poll workers custody of voting machines leading up to elections has drawn criticism from watchdogs, but there has been little discussion about the inclusion of minors into the pool of volunteers.
In a pre-election interview, Haas refuted criticism of the advance distribution of voting machines, saying, "We know who our poll workers are."
En una entrevista posterior, Haas aclar\u00f3 su comentario.
"We know who [the poll workers] are. We know their names and their addresses. We know where they live," he said. "It’s a mixed bag out there. Some were touch-screen inspectors before, but there are 1,650 precincts. It’s not indicative of their performance whether they’re experienced or not."
Haas explained that touch-screen inspectors "can be anybody and don’t have to be registered to vote," as with high school poll workers, most of whom are under 18 and ineligible to vote.
Las m\u00e1quinas de votaci\u00f3n basadas en computadoras, que los especialistas en seguridad inform\u00e1tica de las universidades de Princeton y Johns Hopkins han demostrado que son vulnerables a la manipulaci\u00f3n del software, se distribuyeron a trabajadores seleccionados por su disposici\u00f3n a pasar un largo d\u00eda como voluntarios en las urnas. Los trabajadores clave tambi\u00e9n tuvieron que completar una clase de capacitaci\u00f3n de cuatro horas, aunque ninguno se someti\u00f3 a una evaluaci\u00f3n o verificaci\u00f3n de antecedentes.
When asked if the touch-screen inspectors, who received their machines following the training, were given instructions about safeguarding the touch-screens, Haas said, "All the person had to do was keep them in a secure location."
While an experienced adult poll worker in Point Loma who preferred not to give her name affirmed that her class was told the machines "need to be somewhere secure, not in your car," other volunteers said they did not receive such instruction.
Todd Cullum, de 17 a\u00f1os, estudiante de \u00faltimo a\u00f1o en Carlsbad High School e inspector de pantalla t\u00e1ctil en la Estaci\u00f3n de Bomberos 4 en Carlsbad, inform\u00f3 que no le dijeron nada espec\u00edfico sobre el almacenamiento de sus seis m\u00e1quinas.
"They didn’t give instructions and didn’t say anything particular about where to put them. They didn’t tell you to keep them in a secure place," Cullum said, though he added that each has a lock and seals, and records if and when it has been turned on.
Marsha Alexander, longtime Ocean Beach resident and touch-screen inspector at the Masonic Temple in Ocean Beach, said, "I’ve never worked at the polls and they don’t know me from a hole in the wall."
Alexander not\u00f3 que estaba preocupada cuando le dieron seis de las m\u00e1quinas de 28 libras despu\u00e9s de su entrenamiento sin instrucciones sobre almacenamiento o seguridad.
"I put them in my garage and I covered them up so they weren’t visible. But I didn’t feel very comfortable with it," she said. Alexander also expressed concern about entrusting voting machines to high school students for an extended period of time.
"I don’t think it’s a responsibility they should have to deal with. It’s absolutely not appropriate “” I felt a little put upon myself with the responsibility," she said. "I’m not surprised since I’d heard how desperate they were for poll workers."
Seg\u00fan todos los informes, los estudiantes de secundaria hicieron un excelente trabajo instalando las pantallas t\u00e1ctiles y haciendo ajustes y reparaciones menores. Jim Morrison, trabajador electoral durante 15 a\u00f1os e inspector de distrito en la Escuela Primaria Bayview Terrace en Pacific Beach, qued\u00f3 impresionado con su inspector de pantalla t\u00e1ctil de 17 a\u00f1os, a pesar de las preocupaciones iniciales.
"She was very diligent. She did a great job. She’d grown up with computers and was very at ease with them," he said.
For Miramontes, "they were easy to operate," but he found himself one of only two workers at his polling place.
Jess Durfee, presidente del Partido Dem\u00f3crata del Condado de San Diego y exmaestro de secundaria, habl\u00f3 bien sobre el uso de estudiantes en las urnas.
"One of the things we’ve observed is that some of the longtime poll workers aren’t used to the technology. In some regards, the kids are more adept at the new technology than the longtime workers," he said.
Pero los problemas informados con los sistemas de pantalla t\u00e1ctil en todo el condado plantean la pregunta: \u00bfLa inclusi\u00f3n de menores en el proceso electoral detr\u00e1s de escena es un beneficio o una responsabilidad para el registrador de votantes del condado?
El 7 de noviembre, muchas m\u00e1quinas fallaron y quedaron fuera de servicio, ya sea temporalmente o por el d\u00eda. Algunos trabajadores electorales y votantes se quejaron de la capacitaci\u00f3n inadecuada, aunque Haas dijo que la capacitaci\u00f3n se increment\u00f3 de tres a cuatro horas para esta elecci\u00f3n.
On the training, Alexander said she was a given a DVD and notebook to review and "at the time, (the training) seemed adequate," though Election Day was "chaos."
"There was a lot to learn in four hours," said the Point Loma poll worker, who noted that there were far more security steps for this election than in previous years. "I felt they went overboard in security, with the checks and rechecks and seals. Everything had to be signed by two people. This election had more procedures than usual."
Sin embargo, algunos votantes experimentaron problemas en las urnas. A la exconcejal de la ciudad Valerie Stallings, quien solicit\u00f3 una boleta en papel, se le dijo por error que la suya ser\u00eda tratada como una boleta provisional, a pesar de que su nombre aparec\u00eda en el registro de votantes.
Judy Hyde, a University City resident who uses a cane, said she was ridiculed by a 30-something male poll worker when she requested a paper ballot because of her concerns about voting machine security, saying, "Maybe next year you’ll be brave and take a chance on the computers."
"I thought it was extremely inappropriate to make fun of seniors for asking for a paper ballot," Hyde said.
En otros lugares, las boletas de papel se agotaron r\u00e1pidamente, especialmente cuando las m\u00e1quinas de votaci\u00f3n fallaron. Durfee recibi\u00f3 una de las \u00faltimas boletas en papel en su recinto de University Heights a las 9 a. m., momento en el que una de las tres pantallas t\u00e1ctiles ya no funcionaba.
"By the time a friend voted at noon, all three machines were down and everyone was voting on photocopied paper ballots," Durfee said. "These machines shut down all over the county. Mikel Haas assured us that this would not happen."
Durfee se\u00f1al\u00f3 que el Partido Dem\u00f3crata del Condado de San Diego ha compilado m\u00e1s de 200 informes de problemas de votaci\u00f3n y que ha pedido la renuncia de Haas.
"We’ve tried this twice. [The machines] don’t work. It’s time to go back to paper ballots and go to optical scanners," Durfee said. "How many people came out of the polling place not sure whether they voted or if their vote counted?"
Mientras que Morrison sinti\u00f3 que los votantes en Pacific Beach estaban mayormente contentos con el nuevo sistema de pantalla t\u00e1ctil y se sent\u00edan confiados con las computadoras, Alexander en Ocean Beach no estuvo de acuerdo. En su comisar\u00eda, tres de las seis m\u00e1quinas fallaron, y las seis tuvieron que ser manipuladas para alternar los suministros de energ\u00eda.
"Most of the people said they were comfortable using the machines, but their last question was, ‘Will my vote be counted?’ People had heard and read the reports of problems. There was an atmosphere of distrust," she said.
Haas, still in the midst of final ballot counting “” he expects counting will continue until election certification in December “” does not anticipate abandoning the electronic systems.
"It’s too soon to see about potential changes. We’ll look at what went right and what went wrong," he said.
No hay duda de que recibir\u00e1 una enorme contribuci\u00f3n de sus cr\u00edticos.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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