Rules for the polls (The Next Mayor)

I thought the poll rules, as reported in the usual press release from the DA's office, would be useful:

The following regulations apply to all polling places:

a. No partisan political activity may take place within 10 feet from the entrance to the polling room. No electioneering is permitted within the polling place.

b. Police and peace officers must remain 100 feet distant from the polls unless they are in the process of voting or have been summoned by the Judge of Elections to restore order within the polls.

c. Campaign buttons may not be worn by Election Board members or Watchers while they are inside the polling room.

d. Printed or written campaign leaflets, sample party ballots or other partisan materials may not be distributed inside the polls, or left or stored there during the course of the election.

e. Suggestions of any kind as to which party or candidate to vote for are not permitted inside the polling room.

More frequently asked questions below the jump.

QUESTIONS COMMONLY ASKED ON ELECTION DAY (from the District Attorney's office)

1. What can watchers inside the polling place do?

Candidates are entitled to two watchers for each polling place where their names are on the ballot. All watchers must have been selected before election day.

When the polls are being set up in the morning and when the count is computed at the end of the night, all watchers are allowed inside the polling place. During the time for voting, however, only one of each candidate's watchers is permitted inside the polling place.

When the election officials are preparing the polling place, all watchers must be permitted to examine the vote-tallying counters and the public counter on the machines to see that they are set at 000; the watcher must be permitted to stand somewhere in the room that permits them to exercise this right.

When the room is open for voting, watchers inside the room must stand "outside the enclosed space", which the Election Code describes as the "inner portion" of the room. The voting machines are supposed to be inside that enclosed space.

During the day, watchers usually try to keep track of who comes to vote. They are permitted to keep a list of voters and may challenge any would-be voter. In carrying out these duties, what if the watcher doesn't recognize a voter and wants to find out who he or she is? Although the Election Code is silent as to the procedure to be followed, generally, the election official will allow the watcher to look at the sign-in form which the voter signed and to compare the name with the voter's name in the binder. May one of the election officials announce the name of the voter? Yes.

When the polls are closed and the count is being computed, all watchers are allowed inside the polling place, but they are not permitted to touch the machine.

2. I mailed in my absentee ballot (or I received one but didn't use it). May I vote in person now that I have discovered I can make it to the polls?

Yes. In fact, the law says that you must. When you go to vote in person, the Judge of Elections should set aside your unopened absentee ballot and it will not be counted. However, polling place officials may not know this rule; therefore if they give you an argument, have them call the Committee of Seventy (Tel: 557-3600). Absentee ballots which were not received by the County Board of Elections by 5:00 p.m. on May 11, 2007, will not be counted.

3. May I have assistance in voting?

Yes. If the registration affidavit has the appropriate boxes marked, indicating need for assistance, the voter is entitled to assistance. (The caller should have checked those boxes when he or she registered, or should have gotten that information added after registering.) If the affidavit is not marked, the voter may still have assistance in voting, if at the time of voting, the voter completes a Declaration of the need for Assistance. The voter may be given assistance by any person of the voter's choice, other than the voter's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter's union.

4. My name wasn't in the poll book, so the Judge of Elections wouldn't let me vote. Was that right? Is there anything I can do to vote?

That was right: the Judge of Elections may not let someone vote whose name isn't in the poll book, even if the Judge knows the individual and the individual has been voting there for decades. However, there is a remedy which will permit you to vote today: You can go to "Election Court". Throughout the city, judges from the Court of Common Pleas have been assigned to police stations to sit as election court judges. If you go to one of these courts and swear that you were duly registered, the judge will usually issue a written order entitling you to vote. If you have your white or pink registration card, you should bring that and any other identification with you to election court. If you receive an order entitling you to vote, you must take it back to your polling place before 8:00PM and present it to the Judge of Elections, who must then let you vote.

Going to Election Court or getting a copy of the affidavit from the Registration Division does NOT correct the problem for subsequent elections. Make sure the caller understands that he or she should re-register, either at the election court or shortly after the election.

5. How much time may I take to vote once I've closed the curtain to the voting machine?

The election code sets a maximum of 3 minutes, but if others are not waiting to vote, the election officers may allow you a longer time. (Voters may familiarize themselves with the ballot by examining the pink sample ballot posted at the polling place before they enter the voting machine.)

6. If I'm in line at the polling place by 8:00PM, but haven't yet reached the voting machine, may I vote?

Yes. If you are in the line by 8:00PM, you may vote, whether you are in line outside or inside the polling place. (This assumes you are qualified to vote and that your name is in the poll book). If the line is very long, it may take several hours before all those in line by 8:00PM have voted. This is entirely legal, however, no one who entered the line after 8:00 p.m. is permitted to vote.