Six Bites of the Election

This has been such a crazy week that I'm left to update in a way I've been trying to avoid: the hodgepodge collection.

Being a Diary, after all, I've tried for more frequent updates and when then things were happening rapidly this week, I realized I missed some opportunities for video.

I'm dialed in now, though, looking especially for some video to bring to life the preparations in these next two weeks.

First, this week:

1. We have final maps from redistricting.  We've reconciled those against our maps and are making a couple of minor changes, planning to post "official final" early next week.  We have about a gazillion maps to print for candidates and for our election, so we'll begin knocking them out.  Maps take quite a while to print, however.
2. And, speaking of printers, we have a lot at our office.  Trees R'nt Us.  Or, maybe they are because we consume so many.  With about 2,000 different ballot styles for this upcoming election, that's a lot of printing and proofing.  We're fortunate to have such dedicated employees proofing the draft ballots.  They worked as 12-hour day Friday on the heels of about 50 hours put in last week before Friday.  We're hoping to be in ballot-printing production mode before July 4.
3. All of our voting machines are tested manually before each election by a dedicated group of retirees and election workers.  They've done preliminary testing but will be testing them in depth in about 10 days and I'll plan to capture that on video.
4. Likewise, I'll plan some video and photos of our training, which starts in 2 weeks.  Training is exhausting.  I have no idea how Broadway actors can perform as they do because I'm achy and sore after leading a 3-hour training and I don't sing and dance.  I'm still hobbling a smidge following ankle surgery (but I'm beginning to run on my zippered ankle) and I swear I'm shorter since my surgery.  I'm hoping to be physically ready for training and at least the same height as I was in 2010 by then.
5. Speaking of that, I have such empathy for all candidates walking door-to-door in constant 100-degree heat.  I say it often--it's incredibly hard to be a candidate.  I think the winning candidates should push a measure, for their sake, to have all elections only in 70 degree temperatures.
6. Candidates should get their updated voter list orders starting Monday.  We're proofing all the changes, but we're done with the changes.

We have so much ahead of us.  This election especially, we're looking at the most immediate couple of steps.  We're taking a baseball approach to this mid-summer election classic, one day at a time.  We have the whole timeline mapped out, but this is an election that is better taken in bites.

I'll have some images to share with the bites that come after the 4th.