LAKEPORT ? Mark-a-Vote test ballots loudly stacked up 1,000 cards per minute Thursday at the Lake County Registrar of Voters office.
It is one of the last steps county staff takes June 8 before posting the results. The testing was part of the office”s logic and accuracy test to make sure voting equipment works properly before the election.
After voters use a black pen to mark their ballots and slip it in the ballot box, poll workers and county employees have hours of work to do once the doors close at 8 p.m., said Diane Fridley, registrar of voters.
Poll workers break the seal on the ballot box and sort them by political party and nonpartisan, Fridley said. The workers count the cards and note the number of ballots on a roster. They then put the ballots in a sealed and signed box and two people bring it to the County Courthouse.
An examining board receives the sealed box and they remove ballot stubs if necessary, make sure the cards look OK and put the ballots in the same orientation to prepare them for counting.
County administrator Kelly Cox and county counsel Anita Grant then stack the Mark-a-Vote ballots into the machine, which tallies the votes. Once the votes are tallied, they”re posted online at the County Registrar of Voters Web site.
People with disabilities and any voter who likes can use the electronic voting equipment at the polls, Fridley said. The equipment records the votes but doesn”t tally them. Each ballot cast on the machine is printed out and duplicated onto Mark-a-Vote card in order to be tallied. The equipment isn”t designed to save time or paper, but to make voting easier for the blind or disabled. Each polling place has one machine.
On Election Day, the vote-by-mail ballots will be counted first and results won”t come in until at least 9 p.m., later for polls in Clearlake and Middletown, Fridley said.
There are 46 voting precincts with polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 8 and seven more districts that have to vote by mail because there are fewer than 250 voters. If voters are unsure of their polling place they can look on the back of their sample ballot. People who have questions or haven”t received their sample ballots or voter information pamphlets can call the Registrar of Voters office at 263-2372.
Fridley said the turnout at the last gubernatorial primary was less than 42 percent but she thinks the local races may push more voters to the polls.
“So, I would hope that it”s higher,” Fridley said.
“The turnout isn”t as good in primaries because you”re actually just nominating rather than electing, except for local races,” Fridley said.
Contact Katy Sweeny at kdsweeny@gmail.com or call her directly at 263-5636, ext. 37.
