denied the board\u2019s request<\/a> to fund the creation of 12 new precincts, instead funding two.<\/p>\nBaker said she \u201cspent six months on the road\u201d to draw those new precincts. That meant working with GIS mapping staff at the county, coordinating with potential polling places and working out of her car with a colleague.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe put a lot of time, effort and work into that,\u201d she said. \u201cEverything else got put on hold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elections staff felt it was essential to create the new precincts and corresponding polling places because of overcrowding.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time you see someone choose not to vote because of a long line, it\u2019s a problem,\u201d Sims said.<\/p>\n
But County Commissioners insisted that won\u2019t be a problem for municipal elections this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s not going to be a shortage of sites and there\u2019s not going to be any lines,\u201d Commissioner Joe Bryan said. \u201cI find it hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sims agrees. He\u2019s worried about next year. The general election comes in November, with May primaries. The county budget year is June 1, 2011 through July 30, 2012.\u00a0 That means the current budget and precincts don\u2019t apply to the general elections, but they do apply to the primaries.<\/p>\n
Sims and his staff could ask for new precincts again before the 2012 general elections, but even if they get them, it would send many voters to a different polling place in November than the one they visited during the primaries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year was a golden opportunity,\u201d Sims said of creating the new precincts.<\/p>\n
Even if they wanted to, he\u2019s doubtful whether staff members will have the time to repeat all the work necessary to come up with a new precinct plan to present to the County Commission before the general elections.<\/p>\n
Unstoppable Force, Immovable Object<\/strong>
\n\u201cWe\u2019re all having to do more with less,\u201d Commissioner Bryan said. \u201cHuman services will say \u2018there is more people in need now and we need more money to provide for them.\u2019 The same is true for lots of departments.\u201d<\/p>\nSims said he knows they\u2019re \u201cnot more special than other departments.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, he said, \u201cWe can\u2019t make mistakes. If we make mistakes, well, if nothing else, I\u2019m going to lose my job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having properly-sized precincts with well-staffed and resourced polling places is just part of the battle. But, Sims said, it\u2019s a very important one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe commissioners do recognize the need for precincts. They do recognize growth,\u201d Sims said. \u201cI think it was a decision based on \u2018we don\u2019t have the money\u2026\u2019 We\u2019re doing our job and they\u2019re doing theirs. It\u2019s opposing forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot your typical government employees\u201d<\/strong>
\n\u201cElections are something we all hold dear to our hearts,\u201d Baker said, as she showed us around the clean and well-organized warehouse. She drives an hour to and from Granville County to get to work. When she gets home at night she often begins working again.![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/election_warehouse.jpg\" "\\"election_warehouse\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s commendable,\u201d Bryan said. \u201cIt\u2019s what we expect from our government employees and it\u2019s what people in the private sector are doing also. People are lucky to have a job right now\u2026 We\u2019re lucky to have these people who will sacrifice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sims thinks Wake voters are lucky, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not your typical government staff,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re very passionate about our jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have never seen this level of dedication,\u201d Baker said of her co-workers. \u201cWe\u2019ll work seven days a week if we have to.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Wake County Board of Elections is mandated to provide fair elections, but at what point do budget cuts make that impossible? We talked to BOE employees to find out how they\u2019re managing budget cuts while providing Wake County with democratic elections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24024,"featured_media":8261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[214,15,23],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24024"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/brooke_baker_election.jpg\" "\\"brenda_baker_election\\"")
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