Copyright © 2012 by Mark Gabrish Conlan for Zenger’s
Newsmagazine • All rights reserved
San Diego County
Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler has
made a procedural decision that will void the ballots of thousands in the June
presidential primary election. They are mostly of seniors, some disabled and
non-English voters.
Even an exposé
by Channel 10 News in the last election did
not change Seiler’s odd decision, which resulted in thousands of ballots not
being counted.
The election process
For each
election, there are hundreds of precincts through the county where voters can
cast their ballots. A sworn election board runs each precinct.
After a voters
fills out their ballot, they go into a sealed boxes and are delivered to
collection center run by deputy sheriffs, according to a precinct inspector who
asked that her name not be used because she is not authorized to speak by the
registrar of voters.
It’s really a
complex process and there is an army of volunteers and paid staff that runs
each election.
The ballots can
only be counted when the voter correctly fills in the small ovals next to all
candidates. If they mark their ballot choices with an “X” or with a check mark,
the ballot is voided.
Scanners do the counting
The ballots are
counted by electronic (not on-line) scanners. The critical and possibly unlawful
decision by the Registrar of Voters ordered that the scanners be placed at the
huge Registrar of Voters’ offices.
If a ballot was
incorrectly marked with “X,” they are rejected by the scanners.
When the
scanners were placed at each precinct, when a ballot is incorrectly marked with
an “X,” rather than filling in the small ovals, the voter has the choice to
re-cast their ballot.
The Registrar of
Voters reportedly also didn’t think the volunteers at the scanners election precincts
were smart enough to be able to operate the simple scanners.
Possible crimes involved
Section 14105 of
the California Elections Code requires the Registrar of Voters to provide sufficient
tabulation equipment to all sworn, precinct boards. The penal provisions (§1800
et sec.) of the Elections Code provides
for fines of not more than $1,000 for Seiler, or imprisonment in a state prison
for two years if convicted of violating the Election’s Code.
Some strongly
urge our District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis (Candidate for mayor) to open a
criminal investigation of Seiler.
Many precinct
workers urge the Registrar of Voters to return the scanners to each precinct,
as has been done before in San Diego.
The news media
on election night will get the results much faster if the scanners are returned
to each precinct.
The ballots of
thousands of voters in San Diego County are not being counted by the current system.
