Election commission deserves county’s vote of confidence
With the horrors of hanging chads still in our collective memory following the presidential election fiasco in Florida in 2000, we as Warren countians should count ourselves lucky to have one of the best election commissions anywhere.
The process of administering an election is sometimes taken for granted by the general public. It is simply assumed those in charge will fairly and accurately process the vote and submit it to the public in a timely manner. However, there is a lot of work which goes on behind the scenes, not only during an election season, but also each day of every year.
In Warren County, the election roll is made up of over 21,000 registered voters. With the recent application of the motor-voter law, where people can register when getting their driver’s licenses, the voter roll has grown greatly in the past few years. It is the election office’s responsibility to keep up with the status of these 21,000 names, making sure the voting rolls are current.
When many people have trouble remembering things like birthdays and anniversaries, the idea of keeping track of more than 21,000 names is an incredible undertaking. Add this to constant residential moves and re-districting issues, and you’ve got quite a task.
Aside from the behind the scenes accomplishments, this year’s general election serves as a testament to the achievement of our local election officials led by Election Administrator Donna Yates. Beginning with early voting, which voted a record 4,307 people, the election ran very smoothly. Even Yates called this one of the smoothest elections in many years.
Then we had the main election on Aug. 1 with all 21 precincts open for business. This took a small army of volunteers to man the local polls for 11 hours on election day. Despite a record turnout of over 11,000 people , the results were completed and made public by 11 p.m. This included extensive counting and second checking of early voting and absentee totals, something that can be a painstaking process. It also included a highly publicized write-in campaign by a sheriff’s candidate. Any time paper is involved in an election, such as a write-in ballot even on the voting machines, it takes extra time to process.
In addition to their work on election day and in early voting, the commission needs to be commended on its foresight in urging the county to modernize with the new MicroVote machines. While sometimes daunting to some voters, the machines have generally been well received and have made elections more simple and convenient. Plus now, with the smaller computerized machines, poll officials can carry the voting machines to and from the polls instead of having moving crews shuffle the old Shupe-lever machines to the polls aboard trucks at an expense to taxpayers.
All things considered, the election commission and those volunteers who helped with the recent election need a round of thanks for their dedication to the people, not only on election day, but also for their work behind the scenes.