By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Wednesday was a version of “Boxing Day” at the State Board of Elections as they prepare for the May 22 primary election.
Supplies were boxed up and sent to all 120 county clerks for use by precinct election officers on election day, according to Bradford Queen, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office.
State Board of Elections staff is busy boxing up and shipping the supplies to the 120 county clerks in Kentucky for the May 22 primary election. (Secretary of State office photo)
“Voter rosters, ‘I Voted’ stickers and any other items they need were shipped,” he said. “It takes the entire staff at the State Board of Elections about a half day to box them up and ship.”
But that’s not all. “After the election, county clerks will box up the rosters and send them back to us, where we will scan the signatures to give each voter credit for casting their ballots. Then we ship them back to the county clerks’ offices, who are responsible for storing them for several years.”
He says it costs the state and counties tens of thousands of dollars each time they ship, an expense that will gradually disappear over the next several years, as E-Poll Books come into use.
Seven counties will be using the new technology in this year’s elections, in which voter rosters will be loaded into the E-Poll Books, similar to an iPad or other notebook, and the voters will sign in like is done when you sign for a package from shippers like UPS or FedEx. Voter credit will then be stored electronically.
Queen says as the program is expanded it will allow elections officials to eventually do away with the paper rosters and eliminate shipping costs to the state and local governments.
The E-Poll Books will be paid for by federal money earmarked from the Help America Vote Act of 2002, at no cost to the state or counties.
During a pilot program in 2016, Queen said E-Poll Books were proven to cut down voter check-in time and save massive amounts of time and money in election administration. The success of the pilot program led to Kentucky’s plan for securing e-poll books for every precinct in Kentucky for future elections.
