A large majority of Montco voters usually choose not to exercise their right to vote in odd-year elections. When the offices are so local that no one hears political ads on TV for the candidates, a lot of voters sometimes have no idea an election is even scheduled.
But this election will be different for Montgomery County residents. Here are 2 sample ballots (You can find your sample ballot at this link.):
If you've voted in the last 20 years, you might note how different these ballots look from what you've seen on the voting machine screens. They're portrait instead of landscape, for one thing. And the illustration shows a hand holding a pen. That's right, for the first time since probably World War II, Montgomery County voters will be handed a PAPER ballot.
You'll be directed to a privacy booth where you'll fill out the ballot manually with a pen. Then you'll take your ballot to a scanning machine and feed the ballot in. When you've cast your vote, the tally is added to a memory card. The paper ballot is saved in a bin under the machine where it can then be used for recounts, if necessary, after the election.
Before accepting your ballot, the machine checks that you've chosen at least one candidate for each office. If you haven't, for each office that you left blank or didn't choose enough candidates, it will ask if you meant to do that. If you didn't, you can get your ballot back, correct it and rescan.
If you've chosen MORE candidates for an office than allowed (say, if you filled 3 ovals under County Commissioner where it only asks for 2), the machine will catch that too, but it's not so easy to correct. You have to start over with a fresh ballot and your other will be voided by a poll worker. If you're in a hurry, you COULD chose to cast the rest of your votes anyway, but that one incorrect vote won't be counted.
See how much fun this is going to be? You don't want to miss this election (think of this year's elections as practice sessions -- you don't want to go through this for the first time next year during the presidential elections).
Here are some ways to help make this process go smoothly:
1. Make sure you're handed the correct ballot for your political party affiliation (only Democrats and Republicans can vote in the primary. Independents, Non-Partisans, and Green Party have to wait until November).
2. Don't tear anything off of your ballot.
3. Don't fold your ballot.
4. Read the entire candidate list for each office before making choices.
5. Fill in the oval beside your choice COMPLETELY. Don't mark with only an X or a check.
6. Only choose the number of candidates you're allowed to choose. You can choose less if you want. You can also write in names if you want.
7. You'll be handed a manila folder for privacy to carry your ballot in when walking to the privacy booth, then to the scanner. HAND the folder AND pen to the machine operator before leaving the building. Each poll location only gets a couple dozen pens. If voters walk out with the pens, they disenfranchise voters coming to vote after them.
So, come vote on May 21 (7 am-8 pm) and try out the new paper ballot system. Be patient with poll workers. This will be their first time with this system, too.
You'll note that candidates for County Commissioner are on this ballot. They're the ones who chose this system. Let them know what you think with your vote (but be careful to research your choices, you could be voting for someone much worse).
