OK, folks, here's where we're at. The county has rejected as "too late" our requests for additional observers. But that's OK. I've been saying we need two types of observers: some at the polling places doing photographs of the "end-of-day" tapes showing vote totals (shorter work period), and others at the central receiving locations (the "night owls" there possibly to midnight). Only the receiving station monitors need party credentials. The folks doing the "video the vote" project at the precincts can be "just plain folks". So that's where y'all are going if interested - we're taking the earlier volunteers from last week with credentials and sending them to the receiving stations. You have two choices: pick a local precinct if you don't want to drive far (nothing wrong with that) or IF you can, head for one of these University-area precincts (to see how the "college vote" is going: 0872 BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR LUTHERAN CH 1337 W 11TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: FELLOWSHIP HALL 0873 TEMPE WOMEN'S CLUB 1290 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: AUDITORIUM 0874 CITY IN THE DESERT METRO CHR 1040 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: FELLOWSHIP HALL 0875 KNIGHTS OF PYTHIAS LODGE 1606 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: MEETING ROOM 0876 PALACE OF PRAISE MINISTRIES 1835 E UNIVERSITY DR, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: SANCTUARY 0877 ST MARGARET'S CATHOLIC CHURCH 2435 E MCARTHUR DR, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: HALL 0878 TEMPE WOMEN'S CLUB 1290 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: AUDITORIUM 0879 TEMPE HIGH SCHOOL 1730 S MILL AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: GYM LOBBY 0880 UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 340 E 15TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: FELLOWSHIP ROOM 0881 RANCHO LAS PALMAS 1249 E SPENCE AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: CLUBHOUSE 0882 UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN CHURCH 340 E 15TH ST, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: FELLOWSHIP ROOM 0883 ARBOUR PARK APARTMENTS 1901 E APACHE BLVD, TEMPE, AZ 85281 Location: CLUBHOUSE 0884 CONTEMPO TEMPE MOBILE HOME PARK 2609 W SOUTHERN AVE, TEMPE, AZ 85282 Location: BALLROOM OR if you want to go north of there to check out areas covered in the neck-and-neck Lord/Shaddeg congressional race (CD3): 0752 CAMELBACK BIBLE CH 3900 E STANFORD DR, PARADISE VALLEY, AZ 85253 Location: RM 209 0654 SQUAW PEAK SCHOOL 4601 N 34TH ST, PHOENIX, AZ 85018 Location: MULTIPURPOSE ROOM 0380 FAITH CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY CHR OF THE NAZARENE 5334 E THUNDERBIRD RD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85254 Location: SANCTUARY 0267 AMBASSADOR HEIGHTS BAPTIST CHR 2728 W MARYLAND AVE, PHOENIX, AZ 85017 Location: ANDREWS HALL 0260 LIBERTY SCHOOL 5125 E MARILYN RD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85254 Location: COMMUNITY ROOM ...or anything else in CD3. Here's why these districts: there's going to be chaos with the college vote, and the Lord/Shaddeg race in CD3 will be a key race that could get "stepped on". Another race we're going to look carefully at in the after-election public records analysis is the county attorney's race but that's county-wide. Please report back to me with which precinct you're gonna hit. INSTRUCTIONS: You want to get there by 6:30pm, or 7:00pm at the latest. DO NOT wear political pins/t-shirts/etc. M'kay? Anything that might be confused with one, probably skip that. DO BRING: still-image digital camera (anything reasonably modern should do), video camera optional, notebook, pen. Step one: monitor the situation for long lines. If you see evidence of same, take pictures or video from a distance (like across the street) back far enough so that individuals would be hard to make out, but the nature of the lines are obvious. Once that's done, put the camera away and just wait for the polls to close. Document how long that took. ONLY once the voters are gone can the cameras come out and document what's going on in the polling place as they close up shop. DO NOT touch any ballot materials (important). At some point AFTER 8:00pm, ask them to lay the "poll tapes" down on a table so that you can photograph them. They may get hinky but stay cool, politely insist as it's the right of the public to do so. Once you do, note whether they're signed yet...if not, ask them if they'll be signing the tapes. (Sidenote: the rulebook says they should, Maricopa County elections pollworker training skipped that part. Don't pester 'em over it, just document yet another screwup by this county (and whoa are there lots, I'll give you the skinny in a bit). The reason for the 8:00pm thing is that per the rules, you can't "release poll information" until one hour after polls close or 8:00pm, whichever comes first. In theory, if it's 7:45 and you take a picture, you could rush out and modem it to a blog or whatever. Silly, but there it is. The good news is, even if the last voter is out of there at 7:01, it'll take 'em an hour-plus to get things gathered up and boxed. If it looks like they're going to seal up the polltapes, politely ask if they'll hold those out until just after 8:00pm so you can photograph them. If they're being completely anal about it and it seems unlikely they'll allow pics, better to just go to another precinct nearby and photograph those. The point is two-fold: check to see what the situation is with lines and such, and get a snapshot image of the vote totals before they head off to the central tabulator by car and modem. FINAL STEP: when they're taking the material back to the regional collection facility, there's supposed to be two people of different parties in the car/truck/moped/whatever. Do check for that, and photograph any solo-occupant vehicles with polling materials! We think they're slacking on that. It's important because the ballot boxes can be easily opened while bypassing the county-supplied seals! Basically they're using these cheap stackable plastic crates with the two interlocking lids. Each lid side is held on by a steel hinge pin that can be drift-punched out without leaving a trace. We bought an identical crate at Fry's Electronics for $12.99 and a centerpunch set at WalMart for $7.34 - we *know* this is a potential issue. BONUS POINTS: tail 'em to the pickup facility. EPIC BONUS POINTS: do so without 'em spotting you and videotape any screwball diversions or attempts to "lose" you. You'll end up a Youtube hero if you want :). EMail back to this group (withheld from PLUG) with which precinct you want to dig into, so we don't end up at the same places. FOR MORE INFO: This is all based on Bev Harris' work at: http://www.bbvforums.org/cgi-bin/forums/board-auth.cgi?file=/1954/78709.html For a hilarious example of "ballot car chases", see also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUf9Ef8Ufg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOESAfrPSKI ...and some guidelines for THAT process at: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/71620.html Have fun, stay safe, drop me a line regarding your "take". Jim March 916-370-0347 --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss