By VICKI URBANIK

A survey of Porter County’s poll workers in the May primary underscored a host of election-day problems, but the survey also showed that the glitches weren’t unique to this county and that most poll workers want to work the elections again.

“You did as well as the other counties,” said Richard Balkema, a retired Valparaiso University professor who coordinated the survey in conjunction with the Porter County chapter of the League of Women Voters.

Balkema and League members outlined the survey results at Friday’s meeting of the Porter County Election Board, which voted unanimously to allow the League to conduct similar surveys in the future. Statewide, the League has been conducting poll worker surveys in select counties.

The survey is expected to be used to help county election officials resolve the glitches in advance of the upcoming Nov. 4 election. Election Board President J.J. Stankiewicz said the Obama campaign, and he presumes the McCain campaign as well, is predicting a huge voter turnout of up to 80 percent in Porter County. Republican Party Chair Chuck Williams said a 70 to 80 percent turnout is very likely.

Balkema’s survey was taken after a historic Indiana primary, when the Democrat presidential contest had not yet produced a clear front-runner and when many Porter County precincts ran out of Democrat ballots.

Balkema told the election board that Porter County wasn’t the only one that had primary-day glitches. Overall, he said the poll workers gave the primary election a grade of about a B or B-plus, an improvement from the last survey done in 2006 when the county’s election scored a C grade.

Nearly 77 percent -- or 130 poll workers -- said they would serve as a poll worker again. Only nine said they won’t serve again and 14 said they are undecided.

When asked what they would like more training on, the poll workers’ responses ran the gamut, but a number said they needed more training on the voting machines and more information about the provisional ballot process.

Balkema took note of the provisional ballot concern, saying that provisional ballots will likely become more significant in the upcoming presidential election.

A big complaint among poll workers was that the phone lines were jammed throughout the day and they couldn’t get through to the main Voter Registration office -- a problem that election officials are in the process of trying to resolve with six additional phone lines.

Poll workers also said that many voters didn’t seem to know where they should vote, with several suggesting the posting of county maps that show all precincts and more information in the newspapers leading up to the election. Several also said that they were not informed that the polling place had been court-ordered to stay open through 7 p.m.

Nearly 28 percent of the 169 poll workers surveyed had never worked a poll before. Nearly half said the pre-election day training provided all the necessary information needed for them to do their job. Seventy four percent said there were no difficulties operating the voting machine.

Poll workers were also asked if they encountered instances in which voters initially were not allowed to cast a vote. The survey showed that 37 poll workers said this occurred because the voter didn’t have a photo ID, which is now required in Indiana. Of these, the voters either were allowed to cast a provisional ballot or they were instructed on how to obtain a photo ID. However, 19 poll workers said the voter without an ID did not cast a ballot.

Another problem blocking people from casting a vote occurred because their names were not in the poll work; this occurred 130 times according to the survey. In most of these cases, the voter was either in the wrong polling place or the poll worker called election headquarters to check the master registration list.

Balkema said surprisingly few poll workers gave much significance to the long hours and low pay for the day. Stankiewicz asked if Porter County should consider paying poll workers more based on their experience; Balkema said he likes that idea, since the higher pay could encourage poll workers to return for another Election Day. On the flip side, though, election board member Patrick Lyp said poll workers don’t work for the pay, but out of a sense of civic duty.

Demo Approved

The Election Board also unanimously gave the League of Women Voters permission to conduct public demonstrations of the voting machines in places like grocery stores. That approval, however, was contingent upon the League accepting liability for any damage to the machines, since the county’s insurance doesn’t provide such coverage.

Democrat Party Chair Jeff Chidester supported the public demonstrations, saying that the more people who know how to use the voting machines, the better.

Overtime Sought

Also Friday, the Election Board unanimously agreed not to pursue, at least not at this time, a restructuring of the Election Board and Voter Registration office. A pending proposal was to create an election division, separate from the Voter Registration office, that would run county elections. Under the current system, the very part-time election board, which consists of the county clerk and a representative from each of the two main parties, makes election-related policy, but most of the election work is done by the partisan-controlled Voter Registration office.

The election board also unanimously agreed that the Porter County Council should allow overtime pay for the Voter Registration employees instead of compensatory time. Both party chairs, Chidester and Williams, also supported the overtime pay, but both also expressed support for higher pay for the Voter Registration staff due to their increasing responsibilities.

Posted 9/2/2008