Election Commission Examines Voting Machines

The Putnam County Election Commission on Wednesday examined voting machines for the March 3 primary election.

Chairman Phil Adams said the commission made sure that each machine has remained sealed since the previous election.

“We want to make sure somebody has not gotten into the machine to mess up the integrity of the vote,” Adams said. “We now know that those machines have not been touched since the last time they were used.”

Following the 2018 election, the commission used numbered tags to seal and secure each voting machine. On Wednesday, the commission conducted routine checks to see if the numbers still matched up with each machine.

The commission also approved on Wednesday a new list of workers for the upcoming election. Administrator of Elections Debbie Steidl said a total of 210 workers will fan out across the county’s 22 precincts.

“We have a few extra workers now in case anything comes up,” Steidl said. “Invariably, something does come up, but we have a few extra people that we can call upon.”

A training session for the workers will take place Saturday.

The March election serves as the primary for president and, locally, for Assessor of Property and Criminal Court Judge. Early voting for the election will take place February 12 through February 25. All early voting takes place at the Putnam County Election Commission Office.