SIDNEY — Seven applications were received for the Republican deputy director at the Shelby County Board of Elections.

Following an executive session during its Tuesday morning meeting, the board established Friday, March 3, as the date to interview the applicants. The board reviewed the applications during the executive session.

The interviews, said Chris Gibbs, board chairman, will begin directly after the organizational meeting at March 3. The meeting is slated to begin at 7 a.m.

A special meeting, he said, will be held at a date to be determined after the interview process has been completed.

The person will fill the position currently held by Phil Warnecke, who is planning to retire. An open house will be held Thursday, March 2, from 1 to 4 p.m. to celebrate Wanecke’s retirement.

Director Dawn Billing updated the board voter records maintenance program’s National Change of Address (NOCA) requirements. State law requires local election officials to conduct yearly updates to ensure correct addresses are on file for all voters. The deadline to complete the work is March 10.

Billing said funds were budgeted for the work to be outsourced to another company.

The lists are compiled when a person completes a change of address form with the Post Office. The Secretary of State receives all address changes, who then provides the list to the local boards of election.

The local board of election changes the voter’s address in the system. An in-county confirmation notice must be sent by forwardable mail to the voter’s address reported on the 2017 in-county NCOA list.

“The voters are supposed to respond to us,” said Billing. The letter includes a self-addressed stamped envelope for the voter to return a card which says they have moved and this is now their correct address.

If the person goes online to verify the change of address, the local board of election is notified about the change.

Billing also told the board the new E-Pollbooks should be arriving this week.

“We need to think on how to store them,” said Billing. The E-Pollbooks will have to be placed on racks and have an electrical outlet so they can be plugged in.

Billing said no issues have been filed for the May 2 special election in Shelby County. In neighboring counties, two issues have been filed: One by the Miami Valley Career Center, which includes 10 voters in Shelby County who reside in the Versailles Exempted School District, and one by New Bremen Local Schools, which includes 60 registered voters in Shelby County.

The election manual, she said, states if there are 200 or less voters who can vote, they can be sent to the most populace county to cast their votes there. For the Versailles voters, that would be Darke County, for the New Bremen School voters that would be Auglaize County.

Letters will be sent to each registered voter giving their options of going to a polling location in Darke or Auglaize County, of requesting an absentee ballot or to cast a provisional vote at the Shelby County Board of Elections on election day from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The other option, said Billing, would be open a polling place in Russia and Van Buren Township, which would result in a cost to the board.

The board approved a motion to send the voters to the other counties to cast their votes on May 2. No polling places will be open in Shelby County on May 2.

Gibbs said he and billing will be attending the April 12 meeting of the Shelby County trustees at the Franklin Township building at 7 p.m. to host a training session on how to complete a petition for the November election.

“We did this two years ago and only one trustee missed the meeting,” said Gibbs. The person didn’t complete the petition correctly and the petition wasn’t approved by the board.

Following a short discussion, the board agreed to host a training session for anyone city council or school board member on the proper way to fill out petitions. Anyone who thinking about running for office is also encouraged to attend the meeting, which will be held Wednesday, June 7, at 7 p.m. at the board of elections office.

Billing said several people have already picked up petitions for November’s election. She will include the information about the training session when a person picks up a petition.

The board’s next meeting will be Friday, March 3, at 7 a.m. for its organizational meeting.