Voting Problem: Some Must Pass Through Metal Detector to Vote in DC

What if you had to pass through a metal detector to vote? If you had a perfectly legal Swiss Army knife or other sharp instrument in your pocket, would you be prevented from voting? That's the problem faced by District voters who cast their votes at the Reeves Center, Precinct 141. Citizens who vote there must first pass through a metal detector, empty their pockets and present a photo ID.

Here's the report about the problem that was posted on the Dupont Circle listserv. Voters who encounter a barrier to voting --and that includes passing through a metal detector-- may call the special District of Columbia Board of Elections hotline at 202-727-2194. The BoEE's hotline was set up so that the Board of Elections could deal with any election problems immediately.

Precinct 141 (the Reeves Center) requires voters to go through the building's security checkpoint in order to enter the building and get to the voting line.

While it's understandable for a DC government building to have security screening, it's inappropriate to require voters to go through such screening -- showing ID, running bags through the X-ray machine, emptying pockets, and walking through the metal detector. This is an additional barrier to voting.

The BoEE (Board of Elections and Ethics) needs to either create a work-around with the Reeves Center for election day that allows voters to pass through, or we need to move precinct 141 to a location that does not have this additional barrier.

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