{"id":627,"date":"2006-09-26T15:50:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-26T21:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/elections-task-force-releases-critical-report\/"},"modified":"2006-09-26T15:50:00","modified_gmt":"2006-09-26T21:50:00","slug":"elections-task-force-releases-critical-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2006\/09\/elections-task-force-releases-critical-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Elections task force releases critical report"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>\u2019s elections bureau suffers from \u201crelatively high turnover, low morale and a lack of organizational cohesion,\u201d according to the highly anticipated election task force report released Tuesday. <\/p>\n

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\u201cThe problems have resulted in failure to apply the election code properly, inconsistent training of poll workers, and canvassing delays that have damaged the public image of the election process in Do\u00f1a Ana County,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to read the entire report.<\/p>\n

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The highly critical report found problems with almost every aspect of operations and structure of the county\u2019s Bureau of Elections. The task force made several recommendations in the report, including:<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 the hiring of a qualified elections supervisor.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 revision of the office\u2019s organizational structure.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u2022 the creation of training programs to ensure compliance with state statutes and consistent training of poll workers.<\/p>\n

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The task force presented its findings to commissioners at Tuesday\u2019s meeting. Lynn Ellins, a task force member who is also the interim elections supervisor, said he has already implemented many of the recommendations and the situation has improved, though he cautioned that the November election will not be without problems.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The task force will remain intact and meet again after the Nov. 7 general election. It will review the election to determine whether implemented changes worked, and also help implement those there aren\u2019t time for now, such as reorganizing staff.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The task force found the group of employees in the elections bureau to be \u201cloosely knit\u201d with \u201clittle or no cohesive bond or structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThe more senior personnel are not allowed to direct the activities of the newest members of the department, mentor their activities, assess their performance or assist with structured training programs and their attendant evaluation and performance qualification ratings,\u201d the report states. \u201cThe loose structure and lack of proper supervision in the (Bureau of Elections) office had a detrimental affect upon day-to-day operations that need to be performed. These include: updating of the voter registration roster, mandatory street files, poll worker recruitment and training, identifying polling locations, and the issuance of absentee voter ballots.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Because voter rosters were not being constantly updated, there has been an \u201cexcessive\u201d use of provisional and absentee ballots in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>, the report states. The office has also done a poor job of keeping up with the county\u2019s growth and, as a result, voters have been placed in incorrect precincts.<\/p>\n

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In addition, according to the report, the poll-worker database is outdated and incomplete. Poll workers have been chosen from secondary lists before those provided by the major political parties, violating state statute. Some workers have attended trainings and not been assigned to work. Others did not work but were paid anyway.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Poll workers have been trained at times by staff members who were \u201cnever adequately prepared to handle this important responsibility,\u201d the report states. \u201cAt times\u2026 staff members had no advance notice that they were doing the training and went in at the last minute, unprepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Questionnaires filled out by those who attended public hearings of the task force indicated that most have not had problems voting, but almost half of those who had problems said poll workers weren\u2019t able to assist them.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

On election days in the past, the task force found, the situation has been chaotic. The county has had significant problems with poll workers not showing up on election days, especially in Sunland<\/st1:placename> Park<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

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Poll workers have arrived at the bureau of elections with votes to find chaos instead of organization. Staffers have not had assigned job duties on election days in the past, and were \u201cchosen randomly to do jobs that could be changed at any time,\u201d the report states. \u201cThis breeds frustration and inefficiency. During the election day periods, employees tend to work longer hours to handle the extra workload. In the past this stress was magnified by persistent procrastination by management that did not allow the staff members to complete what other (elections) offices consider to be routine tasks.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The task force recommended the creation of more specific job duties for individual positions, rather than having general job duties that apply to all workers. It also recommended a review of the pay structure, including a comparison with other counties.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It recommended the creation of an organizational chart and a master time line that coincides with state election deadlines, the creation of departmental training requirements for personnel, a new evaluation process, a checks-and-balances system so that all work is double checked for accuracy, the purchase of additional computers and the creation of a call center and online training guides for those seeking information.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

It also recommended more extensive and consistent poll worker training, with the possibility of working with New Mexico State University on a program, and the creation of a poll worker manual that is easier to understand.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Commissioner Bill McCamley, who first proposed the task force, said he is pleased with the task force\u2019s report.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good nuts-and-bolts policy document,\u201d McCamley said. \u201cThe bigger victory here is that (a diverse group from varying political philosophies) has been able to get together and put their party labels aside and accomplish this. That should be an example to all of us in government.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do\u00f1a Ana County\u2019s elections bureau suffers from \u201crelatively high turnover, low morale and a lack of organizational cohesion,\u201d according to the highly anticipated election task force report released Tuesday. \u201cThe problems have resulted in failure to apply the election code properly, inconsistent training of poll workers, and canvassing delays that have damaged the public image […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}