Board of elections tests ballot scanner
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The Highland County Board of Elections began doing test runs and tallying absentee ballots Friday using the office's new optical scanner.
While boards of elections are not permitted to actually count the ballots until after the polls close Tuesday, the information will be in their system, and can be processed in a matter of seconds.
The scanner was purchased in August at a half-price cost of $42,400 , with $18,838 from a surplus in the board's budget, and $23,562 coming from the Highland County commissioners. The board said the scanner was needed to help keep up with the rising cost of absentee ballots.
Board of elections members Dinah Phillips and Kay Ayres said Friday that a process that used to take in excess of six hours now takes just over half an hour.
Since early voting began just over a month ago, more than 2,300 absentee and in-office ballots have been cast in Highland County.
All of the voting machines have been tested in preparation for Tuesday, and the board is confident that they have a good group of poll workers to help out in the office and at the booths.
"I would also like say what a great job our Youth at the Booth do," Ayres said. "We have about 30 students from across Highland County. They are great to work with, and having grown up with computers, so if something goes wrong, they know how to fix it right away. Plus, it's a great experience for them to see how the elections work."
"We hope that means that once they get a taste of seeing democracy, they'll continue volunteering when they're adults," Phillips said.
With all of the testing and preparation being done this week, Ayres and Phillips said they are hoping for a smooth mid-term election day, but elections and its process can sometimes be unpredictable.
"That's what we're hoping, that everything goes smoothly," Ayres said.
The Highland County Board of Elections began doing test runs and tallying absentee ballots Friday using the office's new optical scanner.
While boards of elections are not permitted to actually count the ballots until after the polls close Tuesday, the information will be in their system, and can be processed in a matter of seconds.
The scanner was purchased in August at a half-price cost of $42,400 , with $18,838 from a surplus in the board's budget, and $23,562 coming from the Highland County commissioners. The board said the scanner was needed to help keep up with the rising cost of absentee ballots.
Board of elections members Dinah Phillips and Kay Ayres said Friday that a process that used to take in excess of six hours now takes just over half an hour.
Since early voting began just over a month ago, more than 2,300 absentee and in-office ballots have been cast in Highland County.
All of the voting machines have been tested in preparation for Tuesday, and the board is confident that they have a good group of poll workers to help out in the office and at the booths.
"I would also like say what a great job our Youth at the Booth do," Ayres said. "We have about 30 students from across Highland County. They are great to work with, and having grown up with computers, so if something goes wrong, they know how to fix it right away. Plus, it's a great experience for them to see how the elections work."
"We hope that means that once they get a taste of seeing democracy, they'll continue volunteering when they're adults," Phillips said.
With all of the testing and preparation being done this week, Ayres and Phillips said they are hoping for a smooth mid-term election day, but elections and its process can sometimes be unpredictable.
"That's what we're hoping, that everything goes smoothly," Ayres said.
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