Super precincts and e-voting

[Doug Grinbergs <saule@xxxxxxxxx>]

Searching my BCV mailbox for "super precinct", I find no messages with this term, so I thought I'd bring up the topic. As mentioned in this article, some see super precincts as a way of saving money. Note, though, the statement about live network connections to prevent multiple votes by one person. (Doing a Google search for "super precinct", remarkably few searches turned up, and none in Google News.)

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<http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/05/Pasco/County_may_switch_to_.shtml>
County may switch to 'super precincts'

The system, which would replace neighborhood precincts, could save money and require fewer poll workers.
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 5, 2003


NEW PORT RICHEY - Supervisor of Elections Kurt Browning is toying with the idea of creating "super precincts" for the 2006 elections, replacing 151 specially assigned polling places with 20 or 30 sites where any voter could cast a ballot.

Browning outlined the idea at a County Commission budget workshop Thursday during which he described his ongoing efforts to curb costs and increase efficiency.

"You cut down on the number of poll workers you need. You cut down on the amount of equipment you need," Browning told commissioners at the West Pasco Government Center.

The idea would require some technical safeguards. To ensure that no one votes more than once at different sites, each super precinct would need a live connection to a master computer network, Browning said.

But perhaps the biggest challenge, he said, would be selling the idea to voters used to their own neighborhood precincts. Voters might have to drive a little farther to cast their ballots at a super precinct, Browning said, but most people drive even farther to do their shopping and other errands.

"It's going to take a change of mind-set," he said.

Browning started exploring the idea after Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002. Among other things, the law requires all precincts to be handicapped-accessible, which would mean renovations for some Pasco County precincts in church and community club buildings, he said.

In the meantime, other state and federal election reforms are requiring more training for poll workers, Browning said. Workers once needed three hours of instruction; now some require up to 15 hours of training, including classes on conflict resolution and disability awareness, he said.

The super precinct concept seems to solve both problems, he said, by limiting the number of sites that might need renovations and the number of poll workers needed to staff them.

Commissioners were supportive of the idea Thursday, although Browning has not yet developed the specifics or come up with a cost estimate.

Commissioner Ted Schrader had one suggestion, though: Make sure the super precincts sit on the county's bus routes.