Voting machines tested prior to early voting in Mercer
Oct. 19—princeton — Another step toward early voting and the General Election on Nov. 5 was taken Friday when the machines that citizens will use to vote for the nation's next president and other elected officials were put through several tests.
The public tests for demonstrating the voting machines and tabulators were conducted Friday at a site near the Mercer County Courthouse.
"We're doing a public test of the machines that's going to be used for early voting and for Election Day," said Deputy Clerk Kathy Lambert. "And it's just to show that they're working properly and we're having people vote on them, put them through the DS 200 just like it will happen during early voting and on Election Day."
The DS 200 is the machine which will be used to tabulate the votes. The results stored in each machine will be counted at the Mercer County Courthouse on Election Day.
"And then at the end of election night that will be closed with the votes on a media stick," Lambert said about the DS 200 machines. "And then those will be returned to the garage by the poll workers. The media sticks out of the DS 200s are what's going to be read in the courtroom on election night to get the results."
Voting machines and DS 200 units from several precincts, including 52, 66, 89 and the early voting sites, were all tested Friday. Volunteers picked a machine at random from each precinct for the tests. Ballot commissioners — Skip Crane representing the Democrats and Jane Miller representing Republicans — used predetermined ballots to show that the machines were working properly, Lambert said.
County Clerk Verlin Moye said this year's early voting period and Election Day will be the second time the county's new voting machines will be used during an election. They were used for the first time last May during the Primary Election.
"And the poll workers and the public and my staff and everyone has received them well," Moye said. "They're user friendly, they're secure, they're just a great asset for the county. They really are."
Grants from the Help America Vote Act and the American Rescue Act plus a matching grant from the Mercer County Commission paid for the new machines last year, Moye said.
"We've to right now about $900,000 and some invested in them, but they'll last us about 20 years," he said. "It's good business."
Ballot commissioners Crane and Miller both participated in Friday's tests.
"It went very well," Miller said. "It went extremely well."
"And I think the machines are so easy to use now," Crane said, adding he liked the feature that lets voters check their votes before submitting them. "And it's helpful that we can see who we voted for before we put it into the machine. That's wonderful."
"Yes, everything's been streamlined down for the public's benefit, so I think it will be a very easy process for everybody to vote this year," Miller said.
West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner said Friday that the state offers 10 days of early voting, including two Saturdays, between Oct. 23 and Nov. 2.
Early voting locations will open Monday through Friday during the same regular hours that the county courthouse is open, as well as from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturdays Oct. 26 and Nov. 2.
Early voting takes place in each county courthouse or annex in all 55 counties. Additionally, some counties offer community voting locations throughout the county.
In Mercer County, early polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday and on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
The early polling places in Mercer County include the Mercer County Courthouse, the Sims Wellness Center on Stadium Drive in Bluefield, Four Season Seasons Answering Service at 3311 Coal Heritage Road in Bluewell and the Covenant Baptist Church at 145 Wyndale Drive near Princeton.
In McDowell County, early voting will be available at the McDowell County Courthouse in Welch. The courthouse is open from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday,
In Monroe County, early voting will be at the Union Rescue Squad building in Union and at Peterstown Town Hall. Early polls will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Like the rest of the state, early polls in Monroe and McDowell County will be open 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturdays Oct. 26 and Nov. 2.
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