Ten days before the high-stakes 2018 midterm election in Missouri, Eric Fey, St Louis County\u2019s director of elections, led a group of high-schoolers on a back-stage tour of election headquarters. Three months from now, he\u2019ll be in the warehouse, overseeing the de-tangling and re-rolling of miles of orange extension cords used to power up the Nov. 6 election. The highs of making big-news elections work, and the lows of post-election mop-up are the bookends of a job that few voters understand.<\/p>\n

Correction: Fey is actually co-director of St. Louis County\u2019s Board of Elections, and that\u2019s important to know. He\u2019s a Democrat. The other co-director is Rick Stream, a Republican. In St. Louis County, we get two directors, because, by Missouri law, all election administration has to be bi-partisan. Every function requires a Republican and a Democrat: You need an R and a D to open the door to the tabulation room. You need an R and a D to approve every absentee ballot. You need an R and a D to check voters\u2019 IDs at every polling place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing you can do here by yourself is go to the bathroom,\u201d says Fey. \u201cEverything else requires a bi-partisan team.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the world of election administration in the US, that\u2019s unusual. Across the US, 70 percent<\/strong> of election officials are, themselves, elected, and there\u2019s no requirement for party balance\u2014which can lead to doubt about independence and fairness. \u201cThe person counting the votes is, him or herself, on the ballot,\u201d comments Fey. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t happen anywhere else in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s just one of the intriguing tidbits Fey shared during the two-hour tour that took us into places most people never get to see: the areas where election workers process voter registration cards, verify signatures on petitions, respond to requests for absentee ballots, sort out mailed-in ballots, electronically count the votes, and service voting machines\u2014among myriad other election-critical tasks.<\/p>\n

During the tour, Fey reeled off some key statistics that offer insight into the scope of the St. Louis County election operation. Here\u2019s an annotated rundown:<\/p>\n

Polling places in St. Louis County:<\/strong> 411\u00a0 [The largest election district in Missouri]<\/p>\n

Registered voters in St. Louis County:\u00a0<\/strong> 750,000<\/p>\n

Active voters in St. Louis County:\u00a0<\/strong> 650,000<\/p>\n

Workers employed on Election Day:<\/strong>\u00a0 3,500<\/p>\n

The election board is constantly recruiting election day workers\u2014begging, really. The hours are terrible\u20145 am to 7 pm or later, depending on how things go. The pay is lousy — $125, which covers a separate two-hour training session plus the 14+ hour day. And it\u2019s all one shift.<\/p>\n

Election Day payroll<\/strong>:\u00a0 $600,000\u00a0 [The largest line item in the election board\u2019s budget]<\/p>\n

Petition signatures verified in 2018:\u00a0<\/strong> approximately 400,000<\/p>\n

The 2018 midterm ballot in St. Louis County<\/a> includes 4 amendments to the Missouri constitution<\/a>, 3 statewide propositions, one countywide proposition, and\u00a0 7 amendments to the St. Louis County charter<\/a>. It\u2019s the longest ballot ever produced in Missouri history, Fey noted. [His office, though not responsible for the wording on the ballot, had to negotiate with various sponsoring groups to edit the propositions, because, as originally written, they wouldn’t all fit on one piece of 8 1\/2 x 19″ paper, which is the largest size that can be read by optical scanners.]<\/p>\n

For every petition initiative, county election workers had to review each signature\u2014to verify that the signer was a registered voter in St. Louis County and the signature matched\u2014within reason\u2014their original voter registration.<\/p>\n

Early voting days in Missouri:<\/strong>\u00a0 0<\/p>\n

Missouri is one of just 13 states that do not allow<\/em> early voting, notes Fey. Ninety-percent<\/strong> of voters cast their ballots on Election Day, putting a lot of pressure on Fey\u2019s operation all in a single, 14-hour day.<\/p>\n

The only \u201cearly voting\u201d option is to vote absentee, either by mail or in person at headquarters or at a satellite location, if the jurisdiction opts to have one.\u00a0 You have to provide a reason for voting absentee. Disability, being an election worker, or being outside of the voting jurisdiction on Election Day are acceptable reasons, so many people just say they\u2019re going to be out of town. They are not required to show proof. \u201cOur rules make liars out of a lot of voters,\u201d says Fey.<\/p>\n

In the cavernous, bare-bones warehouse that looks spookily like a set from \u201cRaiders of the Lost Ark,\u201d Fey showed our tour the election-day equipment he manages, and explained the limitations of what he has to work with:<\/p>\n

Touch-screen voting machines:<\/strong>\u00a0 1,800<\/p>\n

Optical-scanner voting machines:<\/strong>\u00a0 500<\/p>\n

St. Louis County uses touch-screen machines purchased in 2005, at a cost of $10 million. Fey noted that the technology is 20+ years old. The machines operate on the now-antique Windows XP, which is no longer supported. Replacing broken touch-screen machines is not possible, because a) they are no longer manufactured by the supplier, ES&S, and there is no additional inventory. Only about six companies make voting machines in the US, and they haven\u2019t been interested in maintaining their older models as they roll out newer ones.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a racket,\u201d says Fey; and b) You can\u2019t fill in, incrementally, with newer machines, because they won\u2019t work with Windows XP, which is also the operating system for the equipment that counts the votes.<\/p>\n

Also, you can\u2019t borrow replacement machines from other Missouri jurisdictions, because many don\u2019t use this model: In Missouri, each county election board is its own fiefdom. There are no statewide standards for voting equipment, so each county decides, independently of others, which equipment to buy and from which vendor. [On the plus side, notes Fey, it could be argued that this decentralization of the voting process is a positive\u2014a fortuitous defense against widespread tampering.]<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Fey learned that the voting district in in Troy, MO experienced an equipment disaster, when the roof of their warehouse caved in in a rainstorm, soaking all of their ES & S voting machines. The district\u2019s insurance policy covered the purchase of new equipment. Fey took in the salvageable machines and cannibalized them for spare parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe dirty secret in election administration is that we hope for a crisis\u2014but not here,\u201d quips Fey. He further explains that the hanging-chad debacle in Florida, during the 2000 presidential election, created a national electoral nightmare\u2014which, in turn, resulted in Congressional legislation and federal funding for more advanced voting equipment. Although Fey is constantly asking for money for better technology, the state legislature and the county council just won\u2019t come up with the funds, citing other, more pressing priorities. As an aside, Fey notes that rural jurisdictions have found it easier to upgrade their equipment, because they need fewer machines, so the overall cost is less.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur only hope is that money falls from the sky again, as it did after 2000,\u201d says Fey.<\/p>\n

So, with all of this creaky equipment, how does Fey know that votes are being recorded properly?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe conduct a Logic and Accuracy test,\u201d he explains. \u201cWe \u2018vote\u2019 on every machine in the warehouse, before they are sent out to polling places. This mock \u2018vote\u2019 has a pre-determined pattern that we can check for accuracy. This Thursday\u2014five days before the election\u2014is test day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electronic poll books:<\/strong>\u00a0 1,200<\/p>\n

These i-Pad type tablets recently replaced the cumbersome, paper tomes that contained the names, addresses and precincts of all registered voters in St. Louis County. Election workers had to paw through hundreds of pages to find each voter as they came in to the polling place. Electronic poll books are a good-news, advanced technology update for Fey\u2019s domain that are streamlining voter check-in. But a recent court fight over voter ID forced Fey\u2019s IT department to reprogram the electronic poll books to match the new ruling [details, if you\u2019re interested, here.<\/a>] \u201cWe\u2019re reprogramming 10 days before the election,\u201d says Fey. \u201cIt\u2019s a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metal transport cases for Election Days supplies:\u00a0<\/strong> 400+<\/p>\n

These institutional-gray, banged up cases\u2014an average-sized person could fit inside — look like they\u2019ve been around for 50 years. Election workers stock them with all the standard paper forms and ancillary equipment [chargers, extension cords, pencils, pens, signs, forms and even American flags] needed at every polling place. It takes six days to deliver all of them. It takes three months\u2014as noted before\u2014to untangle the extension cords, clean out leftover materials and trash, and restock them for the next cycle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re wondering what the heck we all do after the election, this is a big part of it,\u201d says Fey.<\/p>\n