Montgomery County Primary Election Support Page

Montgomery CERT Project: Election Support 

CERT Members: Here is an opportunity to be involved in helping the Maryland Primaries run smoothly in the event of a winter storm. Read more below.

If you have any questions, please send them to vp@MontgomeryCERT.org by Tuesday, Dec 11.

Please reply by December 15th, so we can get an initial count of participants.

DATE: Tuesday, Feb 12, 2008

PURPOSE:  In the event of inclement weather (i.e., snow), to assist specified Montgomery County election judges make it to their respective polling places by 7:00 A.M. on Election Day, February 12, 2008.

REQUESTING AGENCY: Montgomery County (MC) Volunteer Center (VC), on behalf of the MC Board of Elections (BOE). Contact: Margaret Jurgensen, 240-777-8523, margaret.jurgensen@montgomerycountymd.gov

CERT PERSONNEL REQUESTED:

Approximately 30 people. This includes both CERT members and Emergency Action Team (EAT) members.

ACTIONS REQUESTED of CERT MEMBERS:

If you are available, please send the CERT point of Contact (POC), Anne Culver, vp@MontgomeryCERT.org, the following information by December 11, 2007:

    1 - Your name

    2 - Your base location (where you and your vehicle would be starting from that morning)

    3 - Your vehicle type, equipment, and capacity

    4 - Your cell phone number

    5 - The best way to contact you at 0430 on 12 Feb 2008. (If by telephone, provide the number)

    6 - Optional: Your amateur radio call sign, if you have a 2-meter radio you can take with you.

    7 – Any questions.

If you have questions, please send them to vp@MontgomeryCERT.org. The CERT POC will meet with the Board of Elections Dec 12, 2007, so questions posed by then will be explored.

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What: In the event of hazardous weather, volunteers will convey specified election judges to their polling places.

Why: Some election judges may not feel confident to get themselves to the polling places if there is snow/ice/etc.

Why Not: If the weather is truly terrible, the Governor can declare a state of emergency and postpone the elections. This is not likely. BOE will meet six days in advance to review long-range WX FC.

Where: Election judges often live near the polls they are assigned to. Each CERT volunteer would be assigned to election judges near them, to minimize travel time.

When: Judges must be at their polling places at 5:45 A.M. on 12 Feb 2008, for poll opening at 7:00 A.M. About half the judges would need a ride home after 10:00 P.M. They do not work shifts. The CERTs will work shifts.

Who: CERT volunteers, eligible for ID cards, with good driving records. The volunteer should be totally experienced, equipped, and comfortable driving safely in wintry conditions (snow and ice) in the car to be used.

How:

- Vehicle: The volunteer would use his or her own vehicle. No county vehicles will be assigned for this. Clearly, some vehicles – and some drivers – are better than others for snow, ice, etc. A heavy, high-riding four-wheel drive vehicle with chains on board and ready to use would be the ideal, but we don’t all have that. In principle, the volunteer should have at least a front-wheel drive vehicle, with snow or all-weather tires. The vehicle should also carry a County map and appropriate winter weather safety equipment (common sense items – a standard list can be developed).

- Communications: The volunteer should have a cell phone. The volunteers should telephone a single point of contact (VC or BOE?) to report any adverse road conditions, and the VC/BOE will contact the Department of Public Works and Transportation (DPWT) to clear roads. Additional communication capability is a plus.

- Expectations: The volunteer is not expected to shovel snow at the election judge’s home or help the judge from the house to the car. The volunteer is responsible for their own vehicle and decides what is safe or not.

Legal and Financial Info:

- For CERT members, County policies and protocols apply. CERT will request a tasking number from Homeland Security Department (Capt. Tyrone Dement)

- We are not sure at this point whether mileage will be reimbursed. If your participation depends on this, please say so in your response.

Activation Procedures – to be verified:

- On election morning at about 4:30 to 5:00 A.M., the VC receives notification if this plan is to be put into effect.

- Then the VC (1) initiates its own notification procedures for the EAT volunteers and (2) contacts the CERT single point of contact (POC) for activation of CERT members.

-The VC will manage the EAT volunteers and would work with the CERT POC (to be confirmed). CERT chain of command will manage CERT volunteers, with support of CERT Program Manager at HSD.

-The CERT coordinator could be a home-based member capable of managing CERT resources via phone (also by radio, if possible) and coordinating with the VC/BOE/as appropriate. The coordination responsibility ends when all CERT members participating have reported that they are safely home at the end of their shift.

Montgomery County Maryland Community Emergency Response Team website