Election prep in full swing at Butler elections bureau
Election Day is a massive operation.
According to the Butler County Bureau of Elections, it includes over 500 precinct workers, one judge of elections and one minority inspector for each of the county’s 95 precincts and several clerks for each precinct. All have undergone training for the big day, and an election manual they abide by.
That operation has already kicked into gear.
The deadline for mail-in ballot applications was Tuesday, Oct. 27. As of noon Wednesday, Chantell McCurdy, director of the elections bureau, said it had received roughly 15,500 mail-in ballots out of over 20,000 applications. The bureau expects it will receive thousands more.
“Another 4,500 could come back. We usually sit at around an 80% return rate. I’m hoping we get that much back,” McCurdy said. “We’ll start opening those on Election Day, at 7 a.m. sharp.”
The races on this year’s ballots, depending on where you live in Butler County, include the 8th state House District between Republican Rep. Aaron Bernstine and Democrat Rick Telesz, the 11th state House District between Republican Rep. Marci Mustello and write-in candidate Kathy Smith, who is supported by the Democratic Party, and the 12th state House District between Democratic Rep. Brandon Dukes and Republican Scott Timko.
All ballots in the county will include the Pennsylvania governor’s race between incumbent Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Stacy Garrity, as well as the 16th Congressional District between U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican, and Democrat Justin Wagner.
Another noteworthy election happening Tuesday is a referendum on the proposed merger between Mars and Adams Township, potentially creating one enlarged municipality called Mars Township.
McCurdy said she has seen questions about and interest in all of the races on this year’s ballots, with particularly high interest in the Dukes/Timko race and the Mars/Adams referendum.
While it’s hard to project turnout, the bureau tries, to an extent, to plan for staffing. It is difficult though, McCurdy said.
Turnout is expected to be high.
“The merger has been a hot topic. That area of the county seems to be pretty hot right now,” McCurdy said. “I imagine, I hope, that we’ll have pretty good turnout in those areas. We’ll be posting summary reports throughout the night.”
For now, hundreds of pieces of election equipment are sitting at the elections bureau, waiting to be deployed among the county’s 95 precincts.
The equipment is programmed during logic & accuracy testing, a required preelection procedure that verifies voting equipment is correctly programmed, displays the proper ballot and accurately records and tabulates votes.
“Every ballot combination, whether every oval is filled in, if it’s left completely blank, if there’s a write-in, those things are run through every single machine that could be used on Election Day. And we print a report, so we can see if the numbers that come out match the predetermined numbers, so we know the machines are reading the information accurately,” McCurdy said. “And then they’re cleared, and programmed, and sealed up.”
Two scanners designated for absentee and mail-in ballots currently sit in the building. Cleaning the machines to ensure their efficiency, workers used canned air Wednesday to blow any dust and particles off the machines’ scanners, while cleaning the wheels that move the ballots through the machine with alcohol wipes. The machines can also be used in case of a recount.
When the polls close, poll workers will shut down the scanners and export the results onto an electronic drive. That drive gets transported back to the bureau by two poll workers, as well as a judge of elections and a minority inspector, both of which are elected.
In the instance of a recount, the bureau is legally required to use different machines for ballots being recounted than ones processed on Election Day.
In the run up to Election Day, the bureau has taken calls from voters on a wide range of questions. Some calls, McCurdy said, includes people that were confused on why they had to vote in the 12th House District again, following August’s special election.
Other questions and points of clarification include some people who want to vote a straight party line, something that is not an option on the ballot in Butler County. Voters have to fill out each oval for their chosen candidates. Others have asked about the governor’s race, and whether they have to vote for both the governor and lieutenant governor candidate individually or just once (one bubble suffices for both candidates).
Sometimes, the questions is as simple as “Where do I vote?” This can be found on the county’s bureau of elections website.
Above all, McCurdy is advocating for treating election workers with respect.
“Please remember that the people at your polling places are your friends and neighbors. Please be kind to them, and to each other, regardless of who you’re voting for. They are there to do their job,” McCurdy said.
“And as a public plea, please don’t write in Mickey Mouse. We have to look at all the write-ins. And Mickey Mouse can’t win. Sorry,” she joked.
