Auditor’s Office Prepares For Upcoming Primary Election

Teresa Paige (front) and Sue Brown (rear) work on certifying voting machines in preparation for the June 5th primary

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The primary election is only weeks away, and the Mahaska County Auditors office was busy preparing voting machines before the big day.

Deputy Auditor Sue Brown said the purpose is to not only making sure that equipment is working correctly, but that they are also tabulating correctly. They use a controlled batch of ballots for testing purposes. “We do a test plan. We mark the ballots knowing what the test is going to say, so many for each person. That’s the way we verify,” Brown said about the testing process.

When someone votes, the ballot would become invalid if a person were to sign it or have other errant marks on the ballot. The ballot will also not be counted if a person over votes in a race, which means that maybe they selected too many people in a particular race.

Votes will usually count as long as there is a mark in the oval, such as a check mark or X, but filling in the entire oval helps ensure your vote is counted.

Preparing the machines for voting day will take the staff a day of work to complete. For the general election in November, the time required goes up, because the amount of machines needing to be certified also goes up.

Six offices will be voted on in the primary. If your an Independent, you can still vote in the primary, but only for one party. Which ever party you choose to vote for in the primary, is then the party you will be affiliated with. If you wish to once again become an Independent, you will need to fill out a new voter registration card, mark your desired affiliation, and then send it in. You may also go to the courthouse to fill out a new card. Republicans and democrats may also choose a different affiliation for that day, but will also have to fill out new voter registration cards in order to switch back to their original party also.

Absentee ballots may also be voted in the Auditor’s Office daily from 8:00 A.M. until 4:30 P.M., Monday thru Friday. The last day to vote absentee in the office is Monday, June 4th. The Auditor’s Office will be open Saturday, June 2nd, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for absentee voting.

Everyone is encouraged to make sure that they are registered to vote and that they come out and exercise their right to do so.

Posted by on May 11 2012. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

Comments are closed

         

Search Archive

Search by Date
Search by Category
Search with Google
Log in | Copyright by Oskaloosa News