Newsletter - Volume 10, Issue 1

MARIN VOTES

The Marin County Elections Department Newsletter for Poll Workers

March 2016

COLLEEN’S COLUMN

By Colleen Ksanda / Precinct Coordinator

Spring Greetings!

The November election of 2015 has come and gone, and we can once again celebrate our success. Many thanks to each one of you who contributed to this accomplishment.

Last November, 513 citizens served as poll workers, including 51 new clerks and 21 new inspectors. There were 143,352 voters, and 49,653 cast ballots, resulting in nearly a 35 percent turnout.

We know this year will be much busier as voter participation increases in presidential elections, and our county’s voter turnout is consistently among the highest in the state. In the past three presidential elections, Marin’s turnout has averaged 89 percent.

As we enter into this election cycle, if you have not yet done so, I encourage you to serve at the polls in the presidential primary election or the presidential general election—or better yet, both! We will need our dedicated poll workers once again, and if you are interested in stepping up a position, be sure to let us know on your response card.

We look forward to working with all of you in 2016 to make this a great presidential election year. Thank you for serving your county and your country!

DO YOU VOTE?

You work hard to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to vote at the polls, so make sure you take the time to vote too! If you are assigned to serve at a polling location that is not your home precinct, it may be more convenient for you to vote early at the Elections Office, or request a mail ballot and vote from home. This way, you can relax during your break times instead of going to your polling place to vote.

Voting Early
Early voting for the primary election will start on May 9th at the Marin County Elections Office; Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Voting by mail
The deadline to request a ballot for the primary election to be mailed to you is Tuesday, May 31st. You can request a vote-by-mail ballot on our website
NEW! Marin County will now pay the return postage on your mail-in ballot.

Voter Dashboard
If you vote by mail, please visit our website at www.marinvotes.org to access our newest feature, our “Voter Dashboard.” Here you can see when your ballot was sent, the address it was mailed to, and when your voted ballot was received in our office.

NOVEMBER 3, 2015 UNIFORM DISTRICT ELECTION REPORT

FEEDBACK ON CHANGES MADE TO POLLING PLACE SUPPLIES

Felt Tip Pens
Last November we experimented with eliminating felt-tip pens and using only ball point pens at the polls. The feedback we received was that voters had more difficulty filling in the ovals on the ballot with the ball point pens, and poll workers had concerns they would run out of pens if voters didn’t return them after voting. For these reasons, we will be returning the felt tip pens to your Election Day supplies.

Cell Phones
We had cell phone coverage at all of our polling places thanks to new cell phones and a new service provider! Only one phone problem was reported on Election Day, which we were able to resolve by replacing the phone.

Signs for Voter Parking
Some of our polling places reported inadequate parking for the first time after many years of serving as voting locations. Next election, our movers will deliver signs to these sites to designate parking spaces for voters only. Instructions for the voter parking signs are in the blue booklet inside the Polling Place Accessibility Supplies bag.

POLL WORKER Q & A

Each election we receive feedback from poll workers about their experience on Election Day. These were the most common questions asked last November.

What is the purpose of the tally sheets?
The tally sheets are marked as voters sign in the roster so that at the end of the night the Deputy can fill out the total number of signatures on the Ballot Statement. The tally sheets also help poll workers to keep track of the number of ballots issued during the day.

Why do you give us so many polling place signs?
The polling place directional signs and other supplies are packed inside the black ballot boxes that are delivered to the polls by our movers. We pack the same supplies in every ballot box so that our movers can drop them off at any location. Some of our polling places are large and require more signs than the smaller sites. Just use what you need.

Do you want poll workers to give comments on other poll workers?
Yes! We want to hear about your experience with other poll workers. Our office often contacts the Chiefs to get recommendations about who on the team can be advanced to Deputy.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THESE ELECTIONS IN 2016/2017

Local jurisdictions may call an election for an established election date no later than 88 days before Election Day. We mail poll worker recruitment letters 3 to 4 months prior to each scheduled election.

• June 7, 2016 Presidential Primary Election
• November 8, 2016 Presidential General Election
• March 7, 2017 Special Election (No election is scheduled at this time)
• June 6, 2017 Special Election (No election is scheduled at this time)
• November 7, 2017 Uniform District Election

GIVE US YOUR FEEDBACK

If you want to include a story in the next newsletter, or have a suggestion about poll worker supplies or procedures, please email Colleen Ksanda.

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