By Linda Bagneschi Dorrance

January 18, 2008--This message is going out to folks interested in election integrity issues in Marin County.

It's time to sign up to be election observers for the upcoming Feb. 5 primary election. Transparency and public observation are critical to ensure open and honest elections. Please let me know your availability to observe during any of the following times, even just a few hours or so. I can provide you with guidelines, if that helps. Note: The elections office is closed weekends, so no observers are needed on the weekends.

1. Processing of absentee ballots - Takes place Jan. 25 - Feb. 5 from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the County Registrar of Voters' Office, Marin Civic Center, 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 121, San Rafael.

2. Election day - We need monitors who will go out to one or more poll sites and observe set-up before the election (6-7am), during the election (7am-8pm), and/or especially after the polls close to observe closing procedures and record results from precinct tapes posted outside the poll site door (7:45pm - 9pm or so.) Another option is to observe the vote count that takes place at the Registrar's office on election night from 8pm until approx. midnight.

3. Post-election canvass - Begins Feb. 7 and continues for three or four weeks, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at the Registrar's Office. Activities to observe include balancing the rosters, duplicating damaged ballots, counting absentee ballots turned in at the polls, and verifying and counting provisional ballots.

4. One percent manual tally - Begins Feb. 14 (tentative) and continues for 1-2 weeks or more, as needed, at the Registrar’s office. This is a hand-count of ballots from 1% of precincts to check the accuracy of the machine tally.

Many thanks in advance for helping to observe the elections process in Marin County.

Linda Bagneschi Dorrance is an election integrity activist and a member of the Marin County Election Advisory Committee.

Last revised January 19, 2008