By MIKE CATALINI
Rows of folding tables and empty chairs appear on Ballot Processing View 2. Over on Tabulation View 2, a man in a black T-shirt and shorts is seen shuffling papers near a waist-high machine.
The livestream scenes from Maricopa County, Arizona, of the 2024 election process may not be the most riveting video. But the feeds, already online, and other live videos like it streaming from election sites across the country have a serious aim. They are an effort by election officials to demystify voting and provide greater transparency to a process that in recent years has been subject to intense scrutiny, misinformation and false claims of widespread fraud.
The increase in livestreaming the election process, an operation conducted by local governments nationwide, reflects a broader rise in video streams online, according to Wendy Underhill, election and redistricting director at the National Conference of State Legislatures.
There is a concern, however, among officials that people unfamiliar with what’s happening in a livestream could misunderstand what they’re watching and reach misleading conclusions.
Here is a closer look at who is streaming elections and what you might see if you tune in.
Which states livestream elections?
National elections are run at the local level. There’s not a uniform standard or rule requiring live video feeds, but several jurisdictions, including large ones and those in battleground states, run livestreams. Among them are Philadelphia, Los Angeles County and Washington’s King County.
Arizona is an outlier because it has a state law requiring its counties to livestream the elections process, Underhill said.
If you want to understand more about whether your local government is providing a livestream, get involved by contacting them, said Tammy Patrick, chief program officer for the National Association of Elections Officials and a former Maricopa County elections official.
What can I expect if I watch?
That will vary by location. For example, Arizona offers various views of different parts of the process, from ballot drop boxes to tabulation rooms.
Other places, like Philadelphia, haven’t begun streaming yet. The city is set to begin streaming on Election Day, Nov. 5., at 7 a.m. EST.
One thing the streams will likely have in common is that the election processes they show can be slow-moving — the kind of methodical material that few would consider must-see TV.
People should be patient as officials deal with an array of circumstances, including having to drive ballots from polling places to processing centers, said Jennifer Morrell, CEO and co-founder of The Elections Group. It’s made up of former state and local election officials who offer training and other support to officials across the country.
In part because of technology, people are used to many things happening almost automatically, she said, but there are just the “logistical realities” that could make the process take longer. She warned against viewers making assumptions based on something they see on a livestream or a single moment in the vote-counting process, noting that leads can shift and a candidate who may be winning at one point in the count could be losing hours later.
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
