BOSTON — Readying for the count! After Massachusetts saw a record number of mail-in and early-voting ballots, more records could be set on Election Day.
That leaves local election offices with a big job to do.
Local election offices are bustling
25 investigates went behind the scenes in Quincy to see how they are preparing all those ballots to be counted.
"I think that with the COVID-19, it was, it was really important that we give people other options which we did, which was the first and foremost the mail-in-vote, said Nicole Crispo, Quincy City Clerk. “We processed over 21,000 of those requests, and we got those ballots out to people. We worked with our Quincy post office ahead of time. And we came up with a system for easier processing.”
Crispo is also the head of the New England City Clerk’s Association. She says a lot of planning went into the processing of 2020 ballots, from those that were mailed-in or dropped off, to those cast in-person early, to those that will be cast on election day.
25 Investigates went inside Quincy’s central tabulation facility, where they are preparing early ballots to be counted.
>>>MORE: Election night will look different in 2020 – and that’s OK. Here’s what to expect
How it works
Workers electronically scan the unique barcode on each ballot to verify the voter’s identity and ensure its authenticity. From there, workers manually check each ballot looking for write in candidates and inspecting it for tears or markings that might cause the tabulation machine to stop.
A special observer oversees the tabulation process before signing off on the ballots and securely bagging them.
Data, captured by the tabulation machine, loads to a drive.
When polls close election night at 8pm, that information along with all the data from all 31 precincts in Quincy are added a central computer for election results.
That’s how your vote’s protected. But in this pandemic, Crispo said voters are being protected as well.
Pandemic Protections
“We clean up after every voter and we feel really confident it’s going to be very safe for people to vote in person as well,” Crispo said.
All Massachusetts poll workers will be in full PPE. Plexiglass will add an extra layer of protection. In addition, police offices will be present at every polling site.
Crispo said a police officer is always at each precinct in Quincy. That is not unique to this year.
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