27010: Durban (comment): Holding that Jan 8th Date (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

Only about 1 million out of 3.5 million voter cards have been
distributed, many reportedly have mistakes, and voters won't even know
their polling center unless they get their cards which tells them where
to vote.  Even if they do get their cards, many voters are chagrined to
learn that they need to vote in a locale far removed from where they
registered.  Hmmm! Trouble ahead?

Let's assume that the CEP still wants to hold the election on Sunday,
January 8th.  Let's also assume that the CEP knows the 800+ voter
registration locations and has an accurate list of people who have
registered at each of these sites.  Can the job be done?  Well, call me
Heckuva Job Durban if you want (smile), but here's a proposed
day-by-day plan.  Ladies and gentlemen, multi-tasking IS required but
we can do this (and remember, it looks better if you roll up your
sleeves)!

Monday, December 26th
---------------------
Forget about the new voter ID cards.  That expensive boondoogle can be
completed in February, March, whenever.  Voters will vote in the same
place they registered.  If they do have one of the new ID cards to help
in identification, fine, but alternatively, they can come in with the
receipt they received when they registered.

New ballots are now designed on 8.5" x 5.5" paper, one side only.
KISS... Keep it simple, stupid.

Get word to managers at all 800+ registration centers (now called
polling sites) to report to one of several regional training centers on
Friday, December 30th for a morning of training.

Tuesday, December 27th
----------------------
Order 3500 reams of standard 8.5" x 11" colored 20 lb paper (mix of
whites and pastel colors) for delivery in Miami from Office Depot,
Staples or Kinko's.  The order includes printing & cutting. (Paper +
printing = $105,000 @ $.06/sheet and shipping weight approx 17,000
lbs).  Each sheet will be photocopied or offset in Miami, cut in half
to make two ballots, and must be delivered to Miami airport on
Saturday, December 31st.

Ensure we have enough lockable ballot boxes in varying sizes for each
of the 800+ voting locations.  Since each of the 800+ sites must
process an AVERAGE of 4300 ballots, obviously more than one box per
site is needed.  (Surely the CEP has already done this)

A training program for polling site workers is developped, for
presentation at the polling station manager training sessions on
Friday, Dec 30th.

Wednesday, December 28th
------------------------
Publicize the new ballot format (with one secret, fraud alert
character) in Haiti on all media, ie. paste copies on telephone poles,
distribute sample copies everywhere.  Encourage parties to familiarize
their supporters with the ballot.  The goal here is to train voters to
be able to vote fast on election day.

Coordinate election monitoring efforts with the many
non-political-affiliated organizations that will be doing the
monitoring.  Encourage groups to divide up the monitoring in logical
fashion so every polling site has an independent monitor not affiliated
with a candidate.  (Candidates can be expected to have their own poll
watchers, of course, but the authorities need to have independent
watchers everywhere to be able to knowledgably respond to the
inevitable bleating of losers).

Thursday, December 29th
-----------------------
Solicit private sector support to help distribute ballots to each of
the 800+ voting locations the day before the election, ie. January 7th.
 Distribution will be from the 8 or 9 major cities, and international
peace-keepers would be assigned to help in the ballot distribution.
The 4300 ballots (on average) for each polling site weigh well under 50
lbs so no helicopters are needed.

Friday, December 30th
---------------------
It's the day of simultaneous training sessions for the polling  site
managers.  Stress voter flow-through... seconds per voter.  Techniques
for teaching the voters in lines about the ballots they are going to
receive, identifying folks quickly, getting them in and out.  Indelible
ink marking of fingers.  Vote fraud issues... no location knows the
color of the ballots it is going to receive in advance.  Concept of the
fraud alert character on the already-available sample ballots.  Each
polling station manager gets a copy of his list of registered voters
and is advised that the day before the election he will receive his
locked ballot box with ballots and a pre-arranged number of duplicates
of this same voter list.  The training program for election day workers
is explained to the polling site managers... indeed they will be the
instructors at their respective polling sites the day before the
election.  Finally, the procedure for counting the votes, summarizing
and reporting results must be reviewed.

Saturday, December 31st
-----------------------
Ballots flown to PAP.  Counting out ballots into the 800+ groups starts
and continues through Sunday.  This is when ballot colors are assigned
to polling locations... information which is NOT released yet to anyone
other than the specially-designated counter-fraud unit at the CEP.

Monday, January 2nd
-------------------
Logistics planning on how we will distribute ballot boxes to the 8 or 9
regional centers and from there to the 800+ polling sites the day
before the election.  Again, no helicopters are really needed, although
some would certainly help.

This is Quality Control day at the CEP.  All ballot boxes are inspected
and the number of colored, unmarked ballots in each numbered box is
re-checked.  CEP top management also locks inside each box the list of
registered votors for each particular polling site.   Local polling
site managers already have a copy of this list.

Tuesday, January 3rd
--------------------
Final coordination meetings with international and local election
observer planning groups.  Where they will stay, how they will get to
polling sites, how they will do their jobs, train their observers.
Much of this will have been going on already, of course.

Thursday, January 5th
----------------------
Final day for distributing the new election ID cards until AFTER the
election.  The remaining 2 days are needed for the preparation of
polling sites and the very critical training of election day workers.


Friday, January 6th
-------------------
Ballot boxes, ballots, indelible ink, etc. leave PAP for the 8 or 9
regional centers, and round-the-clock U.N. security is provided every
inch of the way.  Polling sites receive their final touch-ups.  Last
minute poll workers are hired, areas designated for security staff,
poll watchers, ballot boxes, food vendors, etc.  Most importantly, each
site must also know exactly where the ballot boxes will be opened and
votes counted.  Ballot security is important.

Saturday, Janaury 7th
---------------------
Training day at all 800+ polling sites for all polling place workers.
Ballot boxes with ballots and indelible ink and are shipped from
regional centers to arrive by mid-afternoon at each of the polling
sites.  In-country hosts for poll watchers introduced to their arriving
guests.

Sunday, January 8th
-------------------
All polling places open on time.  During the day, seconds per vote for
each ballot box will be monitored by the polling site manager.
Planning should have already determined a target number, so the manager
will know if he will have a problem at the end of the day long before
the end of the day arrives.  Sending workers out to identify voters in
the lines is a last ditch measure to speed up the process if things bog
down.

Polls close on time, Ballot boxes are opened, votes carefully counted,
and results recorded.  Two identical copies of the vote results are
signed and one of those copies goes back in the box with the ballots.
The ballot box is then locked and remains under 24 hour watch by the
U.N. peacekeepers until returned to PAP.

           *******************************************


In closing, of course that January 8th date could be pushed out, but it
would be very nice to have the next president inaugurated on February
7th.  Call it tradition, but getting a new president inaugurated on
that exact 5 year anniversary (and hopefully never again earlier) seems
to me quite important.  However, if a second round of voting is needed,
that January 8th date becomes extremely critical.  As we have just seen
above, even with our sleeves rolled up, there is a tremendous amount of
work in running an election.

If they can pull this one off successfully, the CEP and all of the
other people who have worked so hard to make it happen will deserve a
big round of applause.

Lance Durban