May 10 primary election preparations in full swing, Absentee voting, ballot testing and poll worker training preparations

Poll workers are originally appointed by the County Executive parties, and the County Commission will appoint one poll worker per precinct according to Huggins. Preston County has 28 precincts.

‘We have five poll workers per precinct,” Huggins said. “Our office has the responsibility to fill any positions that may come open. We verify all appointments and assign supply and return commissioners for each precinct.”

A supply and return commissioner agrees to pick up election supplies the day before the election, and they return them on election night after the close with the polls with the assistance of a return commission. These two people are from different parties.

The Clerk’s Office is also in charge of absentee ballots, with receiving the absentee voter application, ballots and making sure the ballots are properly stored until the time they are opened.

“A person may request an absentee ballot application from our office, but the application has to be received in our office no later than May 6,” Huggins said. “Absentee voting is different from early voting, and some of the reasons for an absentee ballot may be the voter is attending college or other educational training out of the area, personal travel, medical reason which keeps the voter confined, employment hours worked and distance traveled during the early voting and election day voting.”

The Clerk’s Office staff mails the ballot to the voter. It must be postmarked no later than Election Day, and it must be received back in the Clerk’s Office before the canvass of votes begins the Monday after the election. This year canvassing will be on Monday, May 16.

“Until the time the canvass begins, the sealed absentee ballot is clocked in, placed in a ballot box that is sealed with two locks,” Huggins said. “The Preston County Commission President Craig Jennings and I hold the keys, so it cannot be opened without the other person present.”

The ballot box and absentee ballots are opened up on election day and entered into a voting machine by an absentee ballot team consisting of four members — two members of different political parties reading the ballot, and two entering the names.

“One member of each party reads and enters the names, while the other watches what is read and entered,” Higgins said. “All procedures are handled in a manner to protect the privacy of a voters ballot.”

Testing of the voting machines is scheduled for April 25 at 1 p.m. in the presence of the commissioners to make sure the machines are working properly.

“We have just received the media to set up the Ivotronic Voting Machines,” Huggins said. “we are also checking the Personal Electronic Ballots (PEB) and running tests on those to vertify they have all the data required.”

Huggins said officials will run through all the ballots for each precinct and for early voting as well.

“The public test will verify all the voting equipment is in proper working order and all ballot styles are properly set up and the electronic ballots are properly set up,” Huggins said. “Some of the things we test for include verifying all ballots are correct, that a voter can not overvote for races that allows only one candidate to be voted for; that you can undervote if the contest allows for that; that all write-in positions are working and the tabulation of the results are accurate.”

“We would also like to remind the independent voters, they can vote in the May 10 primary,” Huggins said. “When they go to their precinct to vote, they can ask for the Republican, Democrat, Mountain or Libertarian ballot. If they do not ask, they will be given a non-partisan ballot.”

Early voting for the primary election will begin on April 27 and run through May 7 at the Office of Emergency Management Center on Rich Wolfe Drive.

Hours for voting will be Mondays from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Anyone who would require an absentee ballot is encouraged to contact the County Clerk’s office at (304) 329-0070 for an application. The Clerk’s office is open Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 pm.