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SOLERA DIAMOND VALLEY | OCTOBER 2022 5 By Kathy Caraher, Resident Previously I wrote about how the County Election Center receives a person's ballot and the process to confirm they were a valid registered voter by comparing envelope signatures with the Voter's Registration Card. Once the day's lot of ballot signatures were approved the sealed envelopes would be released for processing. Everyone worked in teams of two, sorting boxes of 200 ballots. We would start with just opening the envelope, placing the envelope in one pile and the folded Ballot in another. These would be counted by another team of two. Throughout the process nothing was thrown away. Next came 'unfolding.' Always in groups of two, this included verifying the precinct number on each ballot and checking for major voter errors or anything that would inhibit movement while in the tallying machine, like tears, spilled coffee, food or other damage. If the damage didn't involve voter intent a team of two would 'remake that ballot' using the original ballot choices. A second team of two would confirm the voter's intent was maintained. The original ballot would be saved in a special container while the identical 'remade' ballot would be processed along with the other ballots. After all of this preparation the Ballots are stored securely until Election night when counting can begin, using the tallying machines. These machines scan each ballot electronically, which is why you need to vote using certain ink colors. At no time were the machines connected to the Internet. Everything was processed 'in house' for security. Ballots are tallied in groups based upon the different ballot districts because ballots in each district are usually different from each other, depending on local candidates or issues. In many districts it can take days for the machine to tally all Ballots. The tally machine totals give us daily updates and can be followed until all ballots are counted. The Election Division usually has a specific time period to complete the count of all ballots. This past spring, I started working for the Riverside Elections. Because I was experienced, I worked as an Election Supervisor with a team of 10 Election Officers. We managed the Elections at the Hemet Library, collecting ballots from walk- in voters. It was rewarding to be able to tell worried voters that I was one of a team of two responsible for their Ballot and that we would be the ones returning their ballot to the Riverside Elections headquarters. If you are interested in contributing to your community and the security of our elections, please call or email the Riverside Elections: (951) 486-7341 or Rivco.gov. How Not to Worry About Our Elections - Part Two

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