Chapter 5 — In–Person, In–Precinct Voting
A. Before the Polls Open
9. Leaving the Polling Place Before the Poll Opens
Once you present your credentials you are free to come and to from the polling place.
Don't!
Recognize that the election judges have a lot of work to do before the polls open and don't have the time to unlock and lock doors for you.
It is simple good manors not to leave or enter the polling place before the polls open.
If you have to, say, go to the car to get a folding chair, wait until the doors are unlocked and the polls are open.
Arriving Late
Don't.
Election judges have a lot of work to do before the polls open, it is bad manners to arrive late and have them stop work to unlock the door for you.
That said, if you arrive at 4:55AM and the election judges went in at 4:45AM, pound on the doors as if they were the gates of hell.
If, on the other hand, you are late and arrive at 5:01AM, knock politely and wait. If there is still no answer, your team should have given you a number to call if locked out.
- Rule of thumb:
- If you arrive before 5:00AM & and are locked out, you become the Tasmanian devil.*
- If you arrive after 5:00AM, act as if you are a repentant but determined lamb.
Your primary duty before the polls open is to witness the examination of the ballot box/tabulator. If the election judges claims to have completed the examination of the ballot box/tabulator (and the polls have not opened, so no votes have been cast), ask that they do it again in your presence.
Once the polls open, you can no longer examine the ballot box/tabulator, so be there on time.
* Fair Warning: If you decide to go the "Tasmanian devil" route, be sure that you are there on the correct day.
The police take a dim view of banging on the door of a public building at 5:00AM for no good reason.
Especially firehouses.