New Tech to Help W. Va., County Voters Get Correct Ballots

(TNS) — For this year’s general election, early voters in Kanawha County will use new technology to speed up the voting process, with County Clerk Vera McCormick expecting a large turnout.

Early voting runs from Wednesday, Oct. 23 , to Saturday, Nov. 2 , at nine locations throughout the county.

ELECTRONIC POLLBOOK

An electronic pollbook, which looks like an iPad, is expected to speed up the process of looking up and signing in voters at the early voting locations. A small printer will produce the correct ballot for the voter, instead of the poll worker having to generate that information. This technology is expected to be especially useful in primaries, when poll workers also have to select which party ballot the voter receives.

During early voting, voters from any precinct can go to any location, but their ballot must still belong to their precinct.

The device won’t be needed for Election Day itself, because each precinct will have the records only of voters assigned to it, according to Kanawha County Commissioner Marc Slotnick .

The information on the tablet comes from the West Virginia voter registration system. It is not connected to the Internet.

The equipment is manufactured by Election Systems & Software , of Omaha, Nebraska . ES&S also manufactures Kanawha County’s vote tabulators and voting machines. ES&S serves about 1,700 county-level jurisdictions in 40 states and Washington, D.C. , according to Katina Granger , the company’s senior manager of public relations.

The equipment was purchased with a grant.

SUCCESSFUL EQUIPMENT TEST

McCormick and her staff demonstrated the new process Wednesday during the public test of the voting equipment.

It was determined that all candidates could receive — or not receive — a vote. The equipment was then cleared of all votes and the tabulation room was locked.

McCormick emphasized the safety of Kanawha County’s elections, thanks to the “checks and balances” of the system. For every vote counted by the vote tabulator, there will be a paper ballot in a ballot box so the numbers may be compared, if needed.

“I think we have good election laws in West Virginia,” McCormick said. “You don’t hear a lot of trouble in West Virginia because, as long as you do what the code says, you’re OK.”

Another test of the machinery will be run before Election Day , on Nov. 5 , and before the votes are counted.

LARGE TURNOUT EXPECTED

McCormick said she’s expecting a large general election turnout of about 70% of the county’s registered voters. Voter turnout for the primary was 30%.

About 2,000 absentee ballots have been sent out. Around 800 have been returned.

Absentee ballots must be requested by Oct. 30 and postmarked by Election Day . Learn more and download the application at bit.ly/WVAbsentee.

McCormick said people have been calling to ask when they can vote.

“I think we’re going to have a big turnout for this one,” she said.

Since the primary, 2,500 new voters have registered in Kanawha County , turning the county red for the first time in years. As of Aug. 1 , Republican registered voters outnumbered Democrats by 212.

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