news-record.com

RALEIGH — The process of holding an election is never perfect.

Take the voting machine in Guilford County precinct G70 — that’s Washington Elementary School — that was knocked over in 2006. Results from the precinct couldn’t be reported until election officials could figure out how to retrieve the data.

Power outages, human error and even the weather can complicate voting.

Local election officials and voting-rights advocates agree that the biggest problems most voters will face at the polls Tuesday will have to do with longer-than-usual lines because so many people are voting.

“People do need to be prepared to wait some,” said Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina, a nonprofit that advocates for clean elections and greater access to voting.

Election officials expect Guilford to break a voting record set in 2004, if early voting is any indication.

A total of 148,155 people cast ballots during the two-week early voting period that ended Saturday. George Gilbert, the county elections director, predicts that 80 percent of registered voters in the county will cast ballots. That means about 115,000 more will hit the polls on Tuesday.

Hall and elections directors agreed that if voters are looking to get in and out of the polling place quickly, their best bet is to avoid three peak time periods:

* Early shift from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.

* The lunch rush from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

* The last-minute dash starting at 4:30 p.m. and going until the polls close at 7:30 p.m.

Robust turnout during early voting will help shorten some of those lines.

Plus, Gilbert said, the county has more voting machines available than ever before at its 165 precincts.

“There should be plenty of room for everybody,” he said.

With few exceptions — those being felons whose sentences were fully completed between Oct. 10 and Election Day and citizens who were naturalized during that same time period — if someone isn’t registered to vote already, they are out of luck. One-stop voting ended Saturday.

Identification is not required for most voters. But those who registered to vote this year, particularly those who mailed in their paperwork or registered at a voter drive, should take identification just in case, Gilbert and state elections officials said. Identification can be anything from a drivers license to a utility bill or bank statement.

“I’m worried about people going to the polls and finding out they’re not registered,” said Joyce McCloy, who leads the N.C. Coalition for Verifiable Voting. Mail delays, volunteers who lose forms and data entry errors can keep someone off the rolls.

“It’s not on purpose or malfeasance,” she said. “We have one of the cleanest states in terms of how registration is done.”

That said, voters would do well to check their registration before heading to the polls.

Also, all those interviewed said voters should do their homework by getting sample ballots and figuring out who they’re going to choose before stepping into the booth.

“You can even bring a list with you to help you remember,” Hall said.

Guilford County uses electronic voting machines. Most of the time, Gilbert said, they work fine. But if a voter is worried something is wrong, he emphasizes one piece of advice.

“Don’t cast your vote until you bring (the problem) to the attention of a precinct official and are satisfied your vote is being cast properly,” Gilbert said. Once a vote is cast, there’s nothing election officials can do to correct a problem.

“It does you no good to complain on the way out the door,” he said.

If there are problems, state elections Director Gary Bartlett said the state is ready. On Election Day, there will be roving teams of state inspectors making sure precincts are following the rules.

And if something goes wrong, the state has the power to fix problems — such as ordering a revote in certain limited cases.

One last thing voting officials note: All those in line when the polls close at 7:30 p.m. will be allowed to vote. And if there are huge lines, local boards of elections have the option to keep polls open until 8:30 p.m.

Contact Mark Binker at (919) 832-5549 or mark.binker@news-record.com