County unveils E-poll books
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LOCK HAVEN -- The latest upgrades to Clinton County's election process was unveiled during the board of commissioners' work session Monday.
County Voter Registrar Maria Boileau provided a presentation on Express Poll Books which will be used in most precincts throughout the county during the Primary on Tuesday, May 17.
"Traditionally, poll books are paper. However, this Express Poll Book -- which is through Electric Systems and Softwares (ES&S) allows the voters to sign electronically," Boileau said.
Boileau said poll workers check in thousands of voters during an election day. The E-Poll Book will ensure voters are process correctly each time.
"They won't be flipping pages. They'll be able to type in the last three letters of someone's name. So Smith -- SMI -- and they'll search for their voter in the precinct," she said.
The new system will also give workers the ability to director voters who may be at the wrong precinct.
"So, if you're in the city of Lock Haven and realize you should be at Woodward Township, the poll worker can actually print off the address for the polling place and the voter can take that," Boileau said.
The system also notifies poll workers if someone already voted by absentee or mail-in ballot.
Boileau held a training session with poll workers recently. "It got a great response," she said.
"The Express Poll Book produces accurate accounting of votes and provides a second check for poll workers as they check voters and ballots throughout the day," Boileau further explained. "So throughout the day they can print, or run a report and double check that it matches how many ballots were issues, how many provisionals or how many spoiled ballots."
The systems operate similar to the voting machines and go through logic and accuracy testing. During the Primary, Boileau said the election office will work with ES&S and the Department of State to ensure a smooth election cycle.
"So we will have an election person from ES&S softwares here," she said. "We will be training all of our rovers so they can be right there. We will have a back up paper book just in case too."
Boileau said she's confident poll workers will not need the backup paper books.
The new poll books will be located in most precincts, barring a few with small populations such as East and West Keating, Noyes and Grugan townships.
In other election news, Boileau said 1,400 county residents have opted for mail-in or absentee ballots. Voters may drop their ballots off at the ballot box located outside the Piper Building, 2 Piper Way, Lock Haven. Boileau noted the box is monitored 24/7.
The last day to request a mail-in or absentee ballot is May 10. Those who vote via mail-in or absentee must return the ballot by 8 p.m., May 17.
Board Chairman Miles Kessinger reminded county residents not to wait until May 10 to apply for either option.
"If you plan to do that, do not wait until the tenth to do it. We need to mail it out and you need to get it back to us by the 17th," he said. "That is probably not going to happen if you wait until the last day. So if you plan on requesting one, do it now."