SIDNEY — The transition to E Pollbooks for the Shelby County Board of Elections continues.
During Monday morning’s meeting, board members reviewed their trip to Darke and Auglaize counties on election day on May 2. Both counties are using E Pollbooks for all their elections.
“We found out it works,” said board member Merrill Asher. “Greenville wasn’t as conveniently handled as Wapakoneta.” Both sites visited had multiple precincts voting in one location.”
“Wapakoneta has the best guidelines for us to look to,” said Donnie Chupp, assistant director. “They had four E Pollbooks to sign people up. They had an adequate number of people to assist there.”
After the person registered, he said, they received an “authority to vote” slip and the person was then directed to their precinct to cast their vote.
People voting a provisional ballot, will be identified at the sign-in table and then escorted to the provisional table with the yellow provisional ballot envelope, said Director Dawn Billing. The person will then go to the correct precinct for their ballot, vote and then place the ballot in the envelope. They then take the envelope back to the provisional table.
Chupp reported on how long the E Pollbooks remained charged. He checked one E Pollbook, which was charged to 100 percent, two weeks later. The computer’s charge was down to 52 percent. The tablet within the E Pollbook was completely charged, he said.
He was directed to recharge the item and then check it, along with another E Pollbook, after another two-week period.
Billing reviewed the status of the voting units used on election day. There are 95 in good shape; another 20 to 25 which need to be cleaned up and looked at; and 10 to 15 that are beyond repair. another cleanup day is set for May 26 at 8:30 a.m.
Billing told the board there will be no special elections in August.
The board received a copy of the policy and procedures handbook changes for their review. The changes will be voted on at a future meeting.
The board authorized the purchase of two DS 200s, which are optical tabulator scanners used on election day. The updated scanners have larger windows and use a memory stick.
Also approved was the purchase of WiFi for the Board of Elections Office. The WiFi will link the E Pollbooks to update voting information on them simultaneously. No information from the upgrades will be on the Internet.
The board was reminded of the training planned for June 7 at 7 p.m. for anyone who has picked up a petition for the November election. Those attending the meeting at the board of elections will be shown how to fill out the petition properly.
The board’s next meeting will be Monday, June 19, at 7:30 a.m.
