The reason for the inspection trip? Mississippi used the same touch-screen voting machines, down to printed backup paper receipts, that will be used in Utah's June 27 primary.
"I wanted to learn from the experiences they were having," said Chief of Staff Joe Demma.
Educationally, it was a worthwhile trip, because a fair number of Mississippi's electronic voting experiences were bad to the point of absurdity. Despite small turnouts, the state saw problems in its so-called dress rehearsal in nearly every county. Some problems took hours to resolve or never were. Many polling places fell back to paper ballots. In one location, an ice chest substituted as a ballot box.
Demma says Mississippi's issues were rooted in common themes that Utah has worked to avoid.
"In every single precinct I visited there was a different problem happening," Demma said. "But they were all related to poor training and communication."
In one polling place, the workers had plugged in the machine's memory cards upside down.
At another, workers couldn't find the keys to the voting machines. In a third, poll workers simply didn't show up.
"All the problems were very easily remedied," Demma said. "They all involved the human element."
The Diebold electronic voting machines have been criticized by voter groups and computer scientists who say they are vulnerable to fraud. Diebold and Herbert have stood by the ATM-like machines, saying they are secure when election workers are well-trained.
"We expect to have a certain amount of those kinds of problems," Demma said. But Mississippi's primary was run by party officials rather than county elections officials, as it will be in Utah, and that contributed to most of the problems, he said.
"It'll be a good test run for us," Demma said. "There will be bumps along the way. But the big difference will be having professionals run the elections rather than party volunteers."
In Utah's most populous county, Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen has been preparing since the fall for the touch-screen debut.
The county has run 175 training sessions on the touch-screen machines for its 2,000 poll workers, who usually are offered about a dozen training sessions before an election.
County election workers have dragged Diebold machines to senior citizen gatherings, home and garden shows and community fairs, she said. "We want to provide an opportunity for people to operate the machines."
In the next week, every registered voter in Salt Lake County will receive a postcard listing polling places for the primaries, along with jurisdictions and hours. Similar information is available at libraries throughout the state.
Voting tips
* Touch-screen voting machines. Utah's punch-card ballots will be replaced this year with touch-screen electronic voting machines. Get a glimpse of the future at http://www.leaveyourprint.com , the state Elections Office guide to electronic voting. For a hands-on experience, keep checking the newspaper for voting machine demonstrations at community gatherings around the state.
* Early voting. Why hassle with election day? Beginning Tuesday, voters can cast ballots in the primary in advance. Check with your county clerk's office for details and locations. In Salt Lake County: http://www.clerk.slco.org or 801-468-3427. Libraries will have brochures on the new voting procedures.
* Consolidated and mail-only polling places. Several counties have made some of their traditional polling places mail-only polls, providing absentee ballots to voters. Again, check with your county clerk's office for further information.
* If you are not registered to vote: Sorry, it is too late for the June 27 primary. Register for the November general election by contacting your county clerk's office. Your registration form must be received or postmarked at least 30 days before the election.
