MichMan
MichMan's JournalSupervisor says some Detroit poll workers not capable of doing the job
http://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/rochelle-riley/2016/12/16/riley-supervisor-poll-workers-not-capable-job/95495230/
Rochelle Riley , Detroit Free Press Columnist
Janice Winfrey should have called a news conference last January and said Detroit could not run its 2016 elections effectively without people stepping up to replace aging, incapable poll workers. Had she done that, the Detroit city clerk, who was widely praised for transforming the department when she ousted former Clerk Jackie Currie in 2005, would not be facing a firestorm of criticism over mishandled voter ballots and malfunctioning machines. She also wouldnt have had some precincts where capable veterans worked alongside some people who could not read, werent properly trained, werent mobile and didnt know how to use new electronic polling books that long ago replaced paper sheets, one veteran polling supervisor who has worked the polls for 30 years asserted Thursday.
The one thing I noticed and this is where the problem is cropping up is that a lot of folks have mobility issues and other issues, said Christopher Flournoy, 52, a residential home improvement salesperson who lives in Russell Woods. Flournoy has been working the polls since he was in his 20s, and said things are not as they should be. I have personally been shocked when I go to training, he said. They do provide training and youll see people come in on walkers and with crutches, and the one thought I had is how on earth are they going to carry on their responsibilities as an elections inspector?
The biggest problem is training and I dont like to say disparaging things but the trainers are not trained to provide instruction. Theyre winging it. They dont have people who have been trained to provide training to adults. It becomes a gripe session about the previous election. You get handed some materials and nobody says good luck, but thats implied. Youll figure out as you go along."
The average age of poll workers nationwide is 68.
Detroit workers are older, Winfrey said earlier this week. And the work is grueling 15-18 hours with only two one-hour meal times and two other 15-minute breaks. Were getting older folks doing it because theyve always done it like me, and were getting another group doing it because its an easy way to make a $150, Flournoy said. Ive had workers in precincts I supervise who couldnt read. They absolutely could not read and couldnt operate the computer, he said, adding that Winfrey should return to giving the aptitude test she created when she was first elected. Thats where it goes back to training. Training is supposed to be mandatory, but Ive had people to show up and say No, I didnt do training, but they gave me a credential.'
Records: 95 Detroit poll books missing for several days
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/15/records-detroit-poll-books-missing-several-days/95476742/
The Detroit News
Detroit elections officials waited several days to deliver nearly 100 poll books to Wayne County officials charged with certifying the presidential election, newly released documents show. County clerk officials on Thursday released a memo to State Elections Director Chris Thomas that said 95 poll books from the 662 precincts werent available at the start of the canvass, which began the day after the Nov. 8 election. Five of those poll books, which contain the names of voters and ensure the integrity of elections, were never delivered to county canvassers and presumably remain missing.
The revelation comes atop other irregularities that have prompted a state audit. Among other issues, The Detroit News reported this week that voting machines registered more votes than they should have in one-third of all city precincts. Im not happy with how Detroit handled this election at all, said Krista Hartounian, chairwoman of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which certified the election.We had been seeing improvement, but this one was different. This one was off.
Canvassers compare poll books with printouts from voting machines to ensure the number of people who signed in to vote match the number of ballots cast.
In heavily Democratic Detroit, the numbers didnt match in 392 of 662 precincts or 59 percent. The discrepancies emerged during a statewide presidential recount that began last week and ended Friday following a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court.Democrat Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly prevailed in Detroit and Wayne County, but Republican President-elect Donald Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes.
Records: Too many votes in 37% of Detroits precincts
Source: Detroit News
Voting machines in more than one-third of all Detroit precincts registered more votes than they should have during last months presidential election, according to Wayne County records prepared at the request of The Detroit News.
Detailed reports from the office of Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett show optical scanners at 248 of the citys 662 precincts, or 37 percent, tabulated more ballots than the number of voters tallied by workers in the poll books. Voting irregularities in Detroit have spurred plans for an audit by Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnsons office, Elections Director Chris Thomas said Monday.
The Detroit precincts are among those that couldnt be counted during a statewide presidential recount that began last week and ended Friday following a decision by the Michigan Supreme Court. Democrat Hillary Clinton overwhelmingly prevailed in Detroit and Wayne County. But Republican President-elect Donald Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes or 47.5 percent to 47.3 percent.
Overall, state records show 10.6 percent of the precincts in the 22 counties that began the retabulation process couldnt be recounted because of state law that bars recounts for unbalanced precincts or ones with broken seals. The problems were the worst in Detroit, where discrepancies meant officials couldnt recount votes in 392 precincts, or nearly 60 percent. And two-thirds of those precincts had too many votes.
Read more: http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/12/12/records-many-votes-detroits-precincts/95363314/
I bet there are 730 people that feel differently
So apparently Chuck Jones would have been happier if they all went away?
There may have been a lot of BS here, but I bet the 730 people that kept their jobs are pretty damn happy about it
Report puts Detroit kids' chronic absenteeism at nearly 58%
Source: Detroit Free Press
A new report on chronic school absenteeism says half of the country's chronically absent kids are in just in 4% of school districts including Detroit, where more than half the kids in the city's school system are chronically absent.
Detroit is one of the cities, along with Philadelphia, Baltimore, Milwaukee and Cleveland, highlighted in the report released publicly today.
Chronic absence occurs when a child misses so many days of school whether the absences are excused, unexcused or suspensions that it negatively impacts his or her academic achievement.
The report, created by Attendance Works and the Everyone Graduates Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, said nearly 58% of students in Detroit's school system are chronically absent. The national rate is about 13%.
Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/education/2016/09/06/chronic-absenteeism-detroit/89784112/
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