Nov. 2, 2010
West Virginia Clerks Busy on Election Day Eve
Many Point to Senate Race Buzz
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) - Contrary to some reports representatives of Lincoln, Mingo, Wayne, and Logan Counties all told HNN of higher than normal mid-term election early voting turnouts. Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole agreed with the early voting as “pretty good, but off the top of her head when asked for an approximate percentage of increase, she did not name a specific figure.
However, enthusiasm among voters , based on those court house employees interviewed, have one race on their mind: Manchin v. Raese. Only in Cabell, did Clerk Cole point to a closely watched county only race --- Scott Bias v. Anne Yon for County Commissioner, as well as the Rahall v. Maynard contest.
LINCOLN COUNTY
Back in the Spring primary, Lincoln County received adverse publicity from a potential fraud accusation that led to recounts and the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office investigating.
This fall, Krickett Likens, a clerk, emphasized that the Spring fraud snafu was “not the fault” of the women working in the office. “It’s hard to work on the computer. We were doing our jobs.” She declined to infer “anything” concerning whose responsibility the Spring debacle could be attributed.
“At the time when they said there were dead voters voting, there were no dead voters voting.” She explained with much embarrassment that “the clerk or I went out with the prosecutor to [the people’s residences], every one of those people were alive and well. We went to their house to see if they were alive. It was embarrassing to me.”
As for November 2010, she stated ,”We do not have 849 absentee [votes] this time; we only have 44. It’s a lot easier to go through that than 800 plus.” Ms. Likens added that “everyone” in the Lincoln County Clerk office “did more training with an attorney who came in and wrote down all the election laws. Now, we know which one’s should be provisional and which ones should not be provisional.”
She explained that this time early voting, “They came in , used the computer system and compared their signatures to the scan board. … most of them had [registration ] cards and most of the election workers “know when people come in when they live in the country. The procedures are clear and we did go by them.”
Based on early voting, she senses a possible high turn out if the sun shines. With no opposed local / county races, she senses a high turnout due to the “the Senate race” between Gov. Manchin and John Raese.
WAYNE COUNTY
“They had poll workers come and pick up the supplies [Monday] evening,” a clerk told HNN Monday evening.
Since Wayne County Clerk personnel were working out of the courthouse on election eve, this spokeswoman for the Wayne Court House asked not to be identified because she did not work in the County Clerk’s office.
She did indicate that the Wayne County News said there had already been 1,000 early voters. “That was a lot more than we had in the last election,” the spokeswoman said.
Finally, she called the U.S. Senate race “the big thing” in the election, since there are really no big races that are opposed.
LOGAN COUNTY
Asked about electronic machine preparation, Debbie Bragg , one of the deputy clerk, explained, “We clear everything out of it to where it is totally zero. We load the present ballot on it and run a test ballot [by ] voting a couple of times on it. We make sure that it has the correct votes that we voted. Then we clear it again running a report to show it has zero votes on the count. We advise every poll worker on Tuesday morning to first check that count [of zero].”
After the polls close, Ms. Bragg said the “machines are brought back to the courthouse, but most precincts have ‘rovers’ that are assigned to certain areas. They had the first responsibility in setting the machines up to see if they perform. They have done that all afternoon and this evening. Then, the precincts are securely locked and sealed. When the poll workers show up , they check to see that their machine(s) are still sealed as secure. They all sign off that it was [sealed].
Once the polls close, the rover will return to retrieve the machines, which themselves do not contain the software delivered to the clerk’s office for the county tabulations. “The machine has a count in it, but the PEB which the poll workers return to the courthouse have the counts.” Once at the courthouse, the “PEB is inserted into an election result manager computer which reads the PEB results.” The PEB process is done in front of the public.
Speaking of the early turnout, Ms. Bragg called the 1,100 early voters a “good turnout,” which compares to 612 in the 2010 primary election. “This is almost double,” she said, attributing voter interest to the Senate race.
MINGO COUNTY
Judy Harvey, deputy clerk, told HNN that earlier Monday, Nov. 1, poll workers had picked up their supplies.
Referring to the Spring Lincoln County election, Ms. Harvey said, “we do not have problems here with absentee voting because we do not have a lot of absentee requests. We make a list of the people who request an absentee ballot and hand it out to each poll worker who comes and picks up their boxes.
The deputy clerk added that there had been “heavy” early voting in Mingo County with over 900 voters. Harvey called the early turn out “super” for an off year election.
After the precincts close, all the supplies and machines are brought back here to the court house,” Ms. Harvey explained. The master PEB is put in the tabulator and the results displayed for the public on a screen.
CABELL COUNTY
Karen Cole, Cabell County Clerk, called “Election Eve a very busy day. This is when all last minute details are put together , fine-tuned, and preparations are made for what the staff will be doing Election Day. All their supply materials are put together, supply pick up is going on where poll workers pick up supplies, we are sitting up back in the back; it’s crazy.
“We did our testing about two-and-a-half weeks ago and had our public test last Tuesday with the county commissioners and the ballot commissioners to assure everything was working properly for Tuesday night. Monday morning we loaded all of the poll ducks and all the PEB’s, which hold the ballots into the supply bags. They are sealed; we keep them quarantined in a room until picked up. Sunday, we spent a good part of the day training all the staff, giving them a refresher course. We have eleven people on staff to make sure each precinct is open by 6:30 a.m. and they rotate along specific precincts all day long answering questions and carrying extra supplies.
Asked about the tabulation process at the Cabell County Courthouse once polls close, Cole explained that the people sitting behind the counter are not actually making a count.
The voting machines do not come to the court house but the master PEB which they close each machine with and flash cards from each machine are delivered to the courthouse, Cole said. “All the information from each terminal is stored in that terminal’s flash card. They take the PEB and go to each terminal and close each machine down and upload the information from each terminal into the master PEB. If for some reason you can’t read that master PEB, the individual flash cards [contain the data on each machine].”
Cole explained that the election night employees sitting in the clerk’s office behind the counter are not counting votes but auditing data from the machines.
“All the people that you see back there at the tables are running PRE-checks on the mater PEB’s to make sure the number of ballots cast on the master PEB” are the same. When you take the master PEB and close a machine, it burns a serial number on the master PEB. The pre-check tells us (for instance) terminal number 31568723 opened and they have paper work there that gives the serial number. They have paper work that says these are the terminals that go in this precinct and the serial number. They check to see all the different terminals have all the results in the PEB.” If for instance, the auditors find only the results from three or four terminals in the precinct, they send over the commission garage and have the final terminal closed before public eyes.
Thus, the auditors, in Cole’s words check to see that “every ballot is counted.” At the end of the day, each machine gives you a tabulation of the number of ballots on it. The workers record that on the paperwork, then, we take the master, and, for example, it may tell us this precinct had 610 ballots that paper work will say the same.
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West Virginia Clerks Busy on Election Day Eve
Many Point to Senate Race Buzz
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) - Contrary to some reports representatives of Lincoln, Mingo, Wayne, and Logan Counties all told HNN of higher than normal mid-term election early voting turnouts. Cabell County Clerk Karen Cole agreed with the early voting as “pretty good, but off the top of her head when asked for an approximate percentage of increase, she did not name a specific figure.
However, enthusiasm among voters , based on those court house employees interviewed, have one race on their mind: Manchin v. Raese. Only in Cabell, did Clerk Cole point to a closely watched county only race --- Scott Bias v. Anne Yon for County Commissioner, as well as the Rahall v. Maynard contest.
LINCOLN COUNTY
Back in the Spring primary, Lincoln County received adverse publicity from a potential fraud accusation that led to recounts and the West Virginia Secretary of State’s office investigating.
This fall, Krickett Likens, a clerk, emphasized that the Spring fraud snafu was “not the fault” of the women working in the office. “It’s hard to work on the computer. We were doing our jobs.” She declined to infer “anything” concerning whose responsibility the Spring debacle could be attributed.
“At the time when they said there were dead voters voting, there were no dead voters voting.” She explained with much embarrassment that “the clerk or I went out with the prosecutor to [the people’s residences], every one of those people were alive and well. We went to their house to see if they were alive. It was embarrassing to me.”
As for November 2010, she stated ,”We do not have 849 absentee [votes] this time; we only have 44. It’s a lot easier to go through that than 800 plus.” Ms. Likens added that “everyone” in the Lincoln County Clerk office “did more training with an attorney who came in and wrote down all the election laws. Now, we know which one’s should be provisional and which ones should not be provisional.”
She explained that this time early voting, “They came in , used the computer system and compared their signatures to the scan board. … most of them had [registration ] cards and most of the election workers “know when people come in when they live in the country. The procedures are clear and we did go by them.”
Based on early voting, she senses a possible high turn out if the sun shines. With no opposed local / county races, she senses a high turnout due to the “the Senate race” between Gov. Manchin and John Raese.
WAYNE COUNTY
“They had poll workers come and pick up the supplies [Monday] evening,” a clerk told HNN Monday evening.
Since Wayne County Clerk personnel were working out of the courthouse on election eve, this spokeswoman for the Wayne Court House asked not to be identified because she did not work in the County Clerk’s office.
She did indicate that the Wayne County News said there had already been 1,000 early voters. “That was a lot more than we had in the last election,” the spokeswoman said.
Finally, she called the U.S. Senate race “the big thing” in the election, since there are really no big races that are opposed.
LOGAN COUNTY
Asked about electronic machine preparation, Debbie Bragg , one of the deputy clerk, explained, “We clear everything out of it to where it is totally zero. We load the present ballot on it and run a test ballot [by ] voting a couple of times on it. We make sure that it has the correct votes that we voted. Then we clear it again running a report to show it has zero votes on the count. We advise every poll worker on Tuesday morning to first check that count [of zero].”
After the polls close, Ms. Bragg said the “machines are brought back to the courthouse, but most precincts have ‘rovers’ that are assigned to certain areas. They had the first responsibility in setting the machines up to see if they perform. They have done that all afternoon and this evening. Then, the precincts are securely locked and sealed. When the poll workers show up , they check to see that their machine(s) are still sealed as secure. They all sign off that it was [sealed].
Once the polls close, the rover will return to retrieve the machines, which themselves do not contain the software delivered to the clerk’s office for the county tabulations. “The machine has a count in it, but the PEB which the poll workers return to the courthouse have the counts.” Once at the courthouse, the “PEB is inserted into an election result manager computer which reads the PEB results.” The PEB process is done in front of the public.
Speaking of the early turnout, Ms. Bragg called the 1,100 early voters a “good turnout,” which compares to 612 in the 2010 primary election. “This is almost double,” she said, attributing voter interest to the Senate race.
MINGO COUNTY
Judy Harvey, deputy clerk, told HNN that earlier Monday, Nov. 1, poll workers had picked up their supplies.
Referring to the Spring Lincoln County election, Ms. Harvey said, “we do not have problems here with absentee voting because we do not have a lot of absentee requests. We make a list of the people who request an absentee ballot and hand it out to each poll worker who comes and picks up their boxes.
The deputy clerk added that there had been “heavy” early voting in Mingo County with over 900 voters. Harvey called the early turn out “super” for an off year election.
After the precincts close, all the supplies and machines are brought back here to the court house,” Ms. Harvey explained. The master PEB is put in the tabulator and the results displayed for the public on a screen.
CABELL COUNTY
Karen Cole, Cabell County Clerk, called “Election Eve a very busy day. This is when all last minute details are put together , fine-tuned, and preparations are made for what the staff will be doing Election Day. All their supply materials are put together, supply pick up is going on where poll workers pick up supplies, we are sitting up back in the back; it’s crazy.
“We did our testing about two-and-a-half weeks ago and had our public test last Tuesday with the county commissioners and the ballot commissioners to assure everything was working properly for Tuesday night. Monday morning we loaded all of the poll ducks and all the PEB’s, which hold the ballots into the supply bags. They are sealed; we keep them quarantined in a room until picked up. Sunday, we spent a good part of the day training all the staff, giving them a refresher course. We have eleven people on staff to make sure each precinct is open by 6:30 a.m. and they rotate along specific precincts all day long answering questions and carrying extra supplies.
Asked about the tabulation process at the Cabell County Courthouse once polls close, Cole explained that the people sitting behind the counter are not actually making a count.
The voting machines do not come to the court house but the master PEB which they close each machine with and flash cards from each machine are delivered to the courthouse, Cole said. “All the information from each terminal is stored in that terminal’s flash card. They take the PEB and go to each terminal and close each machine down and upload the information from each terminal into the master PEB. If for some reason you can’t read that master PEB, the individual flash cards [contain the data on each machine].”
Cole explained that the election night employees sitting in the clerk’s office behind the counter are not counting votes but auditing data from the machines.
“All the people that you see back there at the tables are running PRE-checks on the mater PEB’s to make sure the number of ballots cast on the master PEB” are the same. When you take the master PEB and close a machine, it burns a serial number on the master PEB. The pre-check tells us (for instance) terminal number 31568723 opened and they have paper work there that gives the serial number. They have paper work that says these are the terminals that go in this precinct and the serial number. They check to see all the different terminals have all the results in the PEB.” If for instance, the auditors find only the results from three or four terminals in the precinct, they send over the commission garage and have the final terminal closed before public eyes.
Thus, the auditors, in Cole’s words check to see that “every ballot is counted.” At the end of the day, each machine gives you a tabulation of the number of ballots on it. The workers record that on the paperwork, then, we take the master, and, for example, it may tell us this precinct had 610 ballots that paper work will say the same.
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