While watching absentee ballot processing yesterday in the same room they created qr ballots for UOCAVA ballots. Election manager said they are emailed in but there were various in different kinds of envelopes so some must have been mailed in. So it is possible for ballots to be created during processing and with 50% +1 needed to avoid a runoff even 1 mistake could change the political landscape, but military personnel may be more entitled to vote so that remains a situation to watch.
I watched absentee ballot processing yesterday in Cherokee. The processors were sworn in. The outer ballot envelopes are opened by a speedy machine then the inner and outer envelopes were separated leaving the ballots to be removed from the non identifiable inner envelopes. Technically it would be possible for someone to see how a voter voted but 2 people worked on a batch and it would be obvious and out of rhythm to match the outer envelope to the ballot. Some people put their instructions in with the ballot envelope and i think it is the address that shows in the mailing envelope so those would be identifiable with the ballot. They just ignored the instructions or insertions included and the supervisor collected the them as they went. More to worry about the voter roll which notes precinct, how voted and this would reveal who the voter voted for on the cast vote record. I noticed this a while back when i was the only absentee in my precinct and posting like this with a voter roll with the cast vote record violates secret ballot. For the life of me i cant figure how to include precinct absentees in cast vote records and not violate secret ballot. The numbers need to balance but im not sure the public needs to know the means by which a voter voted. Maybe making manner of vote only available to the voter and elections but not the voter roll is what needs to be done. I was speaking with an elections worker telling her about my experience finding this and she said it couldnt happen but it happens every cast vote record if there is one or few absentee voters in a precinct that all vote the same candidate.
The scanners used for scanning absentee ballots are much faster than the clunky poll scanners. I have known this since 2021. I cant remember the exact scan ability now but it was high. I cant figure why the poll scanners are so slow unless its because of the qr code. The absentee scanners also scanned both sides and the only difference is the qr code. We need to get Dominion or whatever their name happens to be today to take the clunky scanners in on trade for enough scanners for each precinct to have 2 scanners in case of malfunction like the absentee scanners to allow voters to scan their paper ballots for fast handling and transparency. The scanner puts the totals right to the ems system for eventual aggregation. Every batch apparently had to be signed by a supervisor after being signed by all 4 processors at the two tables. Time was included on the batch sheets. The outer and inner envelopes were stored in separate boxes separate from the ballots and those at capacity were sealed. I didnt get to see where the ballots were stored after receipt prior to processing but I will follow up. I know this office separates absentee ballots by precinct prior to the process so a printout can be done to be sure they are all accounted for as they were checked in.
There were some provisional absentee ballots that were issued as provisional due to some question on a voter’s eligibility or information. Provisional poll ballots will be either cured before the election certification or voted on at the certification meeting as to whether or not they are acceptable. It is my understanding that contact with the voter is attempted prior to the certification meeting in an effort to cure and count the poll provisional ballots. Being as absentee ballots come in throughout election day they are processed in smaller batches as they collect.
For your information the room where absentee ballots are processed is secure and incomers have to be let in or use some sort of entry code. Apparently precinct batches are not processed separately as I only saw 27 batches and there are 42 precincts in my county. All the initial batches were about the same size so some precinct batches must have been combined. I left about 5p. as there were not many more absentees likely to come in before the required time of poll close.
While I was waiting I noticed a big gap under the front door that was certainly big enough for bugs,
snakes, rodents and possibly squirrels or other wildlife to enter the building. Also there were 2 occupant load permits one listing 106 and one listing 253. I dont know if the difference means anything but they had the same address listed so it may bear further consideration. The 106 certificate listed “Sprinkle False.” I could be wrong but I took that to mean no sprinklers. I did not see any. The fire system beeped 2 sets of beeps twice while I was sitting next to it I am hoping any ballots there are securely stored in fireproof area along with a current backup of information and will be stored in such for the entire required retention time. That is my account of monitoring absentee ballot processing. Only adjudication and aggregation procedures remain for me to have observed all the different procedures.
There were many people who came to the elections office to vote on election day. The other suggestion to help elections would be signs outside all early voting locations stating that it is an early voting location but on election day voters are required to vote in their precinct and they should print or request their voter id card to know their election day poll.
GEORGIA4GEORGIA 