Election day is over, BOE still working

NORWALK — Of Huron County's registered voters, 79 percent participated in the Nov. 3 general election. On election day 10,771, or 32, voted in-person and 16,062, 47 percent, voted early. Huron County Board of Elections director, Cecilia Blevins, said election day was very busy. "Everything went very well for as busy as the polling locations were," she said. "There were not real long waits for voters other than when the polling locations first opened in the morning." When a polling location had someone requesting a provisional ballot, they had to contact the board prior to issuing the ballot, she said. The board is still counting absentee ballots, the last day they are to be counted is Friday, and they must be postmarked by Nov. 2 to be on time. To count an absentee ballot, the information on the identification envelope is first verified with the board's system. Once verified, the envelope is moved to be counted. "The envelope is then open and the ballot stub number is verified with information on the ID envelope. It is then run through a scanner in a batch of other absentee ballots for counting," Blevins said. "An in-person ballot is put into the scanner by the voter once their voter registration is verified when they state their name and address to the precinct election official." The week after the election, Blevins said they spend the week verifying provisional voters, the check-in numbers at the polls with the number of ballots scanned, putting election equipment away, verifying it was picked up and preparing payroll for precinct workers, rovers and office help. After holding the election, the board verifies the numbers of voters, prepare for the official canvass on Nov. 18 when provisional and on time absentee ballots received are added to the election night unofficial canvass. Bi-partisan teams process the absentee mail out ballots, all in-person votes and election day votes, Blevins said. "Ballots are read by scanners that have been through a logic and accuracy process prior to early voting. All the testing done on the scanners are done by bi-partisan teams," she said. All audits performed after the elections are also completed with bi-partisan teams. "It was a great turnout for the election. Seventy-nine percent of registered voters let their voice be heard," Blevins said. "We have a great team of workers in the office and at the polling locations — we couldn't do an election without their help."