| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| Has this been done
before? |
November 2008 will be fourth time
for the Coalition in Connecticut. In the fall of
2007, fifty-one volunteers observed thirty-one
audits across Connecticut and again during the Feb
2008 and Aug 2008 Presidential Primaries. Similar
programs have been done is Minnesota and
California. We have benefited by the generous
sharing of materials from a program conducted by the
Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota and the
League of Women Voters of Minnesota.
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| How many volunteer
observes are needed? |
| We would like to have a minimum
of two observers at each audit, preferably three.
To fully cover the November audits we will need at
least double the sixty observers who signed-up for
the August primaries. |
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| Should I signup online or mail? |
| If at all possible sign up
online. It will save us time and make sure your
data is entered correctly. With an e-mail address
we will be able to keep you updated more
efficiently. If you cannot signup online, please
sign-up by regular mail. |
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| What are the benefits to
observers? |
| Past programs indicate the
greatest benefit is the opportunity to participate
democracy and the election process. Participants
will gain a greater appreciation for the election
process and the work of election staff. You will
also have the feelings of pride from contribution to
assuring election integrity in Connecticut. |
| |
| How are the
municipalities and districts to be audited selected? |
| After the election, the Secretary
of the State will hold a public random drawing to
select 10% of the districts in the election to be
audited. Many towns will not have districts
selected. Larger towns may have three or four
districts selected. We expect that forty to fifty
municipalities will be selected -- the random
drawing to determine the actual number. |
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| When and where will the audits be
conducted? |
| The Registrars in each
municipality decide the date, time, and place of the
audit. This year, by law, the audits must be
conducted between Wednesday November 19th and early
December. The coalition will work with the Secretary
of the State's office and the registrars to
determine the dates, times, and locations of the
audits. |
| |
| Why can't I attend the
audit in my own city/town? |
| All audits are open to the
public, so you can certainly attend the audit in
your town if you are available and your town is
selected. The coalition's goal is to have at least
two observers attend each audit that are not
residents of the municipality being audited, to add
to the objectivity and perception of objectivity for
the feedback obtained. Remember most towns will not
be selected for audit. |
| |
| How long will the audits
last? |
| The audits will vary in length.
It depends primarily in this election on the number
of votes to be counted in each municipality and the
number of election officials. We are requesting
that volunteers commit to be available for at least
one day. The sign-up form asks you to list dates
when you can be available - the more dates you
specify the more likely we will be able to provide
the opportunity for you to participate and the more
of the audits we will be able to observe |
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| What time commitment is
expected of volunteers? |
| We are asking volunteers to
commit to being at one audit and to call in to one
one-hour conference call tWe are asking volunteers
to commit to being at one audit and to call in to
one one-hour conference call training. When you
sign-up, you tell us which days you will agree to be
available to participate in the audit. We also ask
how far from your residence you are willing to drive
to observe an audit. Expect audits to last from
five to eight hours from the time they start.
Please provide dates when you can be available to be
in another town from 9:00am to 9:00pm. |
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| When will I find out my
assignment? |
| Our goal is to have all the
dates, times, and locations of the audits as soon as
we can. Although the audits are public, there are
no advanced notice requirements in the law. The
Secretary of the State's procedures requires three
days notice. We will be asking the registrars
involved to provide dates well in advance of the
audit. We will notify you as soon as we can, but
sometimes there is only a short notice. We will
understand if you cannot attend an audit on short
notice, or something important has come up after you
signed up. |
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| When will the training be
held and when will I receive the Observer's Kit? |
We are planning several one hour
conference call training sessions in the last few
days before the audits begin on November 19th -
some will be during the day and some in the evening
- you will not need a reservation, just call into
one of the sessions. The Observer's Kit will contain
an audit report form with instructions, a copy of
the code of conduct, and a copy of the official
audit procedures. We will finalize and make the kit
available shortly after the audit procedures are
released by the Secretary of the State's Office. We
will also be mailing name badges to observers to
arrive by November 18th.
How far will I have to drive?
When you sign-up you will specify the
distance you are willing to travel. We estimate the
distance from your town to the audit - we may ask
you to go a little farther if nobody else is
available, but will not expect you to agree. The
more dates you can be available and the farther you
are willing to travel, the more likely we will be
able to find an audit for your to observe - and the
more likely we will be able to cover all the audits
after the election.
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