THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9610310051
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K6 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: MY JOB
SOURCE: BY ANGELITA PLEMMER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 66 lines
SAY IT'S Election Day, and you're ready to vote.
You've chosen your candidates carefully and with nervous anticipation. You absent-mindedly fold the ballot in your hands as you wait in line to place it in the voting machine.
Finally, you're at the mechanical ballot box and you insert the ballot into the slot.
With slight resistance, you stick it halfway in. But it won't go all the way. Now it's stuck. You push and tug but it won't budge.
The letters ``Errr'' flash in red on the machine. A loud ``beep, beep, beep'' emanates from the machine. Your face feels hot as people start to stare.
It's a voter's worst nightmare, and one of several problem scenarios depicted by Norfolk's voting machine technician, Frankie Scarborough.
But he's hoping it's a scene the city's voters can avoid if his students do their job.
Before Election Day, Scarborough lectures three classes of volunteer poll workers on how to set up and operate the electronic voting machines.
``What I do here saves me a lot of running on Election Day,'' said Scarborough, who mans 60 precincts with his staff of four technicians.
``The majority of the problems are operator malfunctions more than the machine,'' Scarborough said. ``A lot of people are not mechanically inclined.
On Oct. 24, 37 eager men and women from across the city met at Scarborough's workshop on Azalea Garden Road to simulate Election Day mishaps.
Grouped three to a machine, students started by learning how to open the four-foot-high, 80-pound electronic voting machine with a brass key.
Next, they began opening compartments with cords and levers and trays.
His quick wit and offbeat sense of humor make him a big hit with the students.
``You don't vote until you actually feed it (the ballot) into the counter,'' Scarborough said. ``It's absolutely essential that someone stand there and make sure all of the ballots are counted.''
The machine is really a sophisticated card counter, Scarborough explains. Votes are counted according to the holes punched into the ballot card.
But the machine is sensitive and will not accept ballots if they are damaged or if the holes in the ballot cards are clogged with dirt from handling.
Scarborough's students can troubleshoot for damaged ballots or folks who try to insert more than one card at a time.
``My mother's been doing this awhile, so she recruited me,'' said Denise Piatt, who fumbled with a key that opened a windowed panel that would hold printed election totals.
``If there's any trouble, I'm going to probably be at the same precinct (as my mother), so I feel comfortable.''
But if a problem arises the students can't fix, Scarborough or one of his technicians comes to the rescue.
``I hope I don't see you Election Day,'' said 70-year-old Ted Holt, who will be volunteering at the Ocean View Center. ``That means that everything is going OK.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot
Volunteer poll workers, left, learn how to set up and operate
electronic voting machines under the tutelage of Norfolk's voting
machine technician, Frankie Scarborough. The machines, above, will
be used to tally votes in Norfolk on Tuesday. by CNB