DARKE COUNTY — Whether you are voting early at the Darke County Board of Elections or waiting for Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, you can go online to watch this link to see how easy it is to use the new voting equipment: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sbufQFslEg. New this year is a touch screen Ballot Marking Device voters will use to cast their vote with a paper ballot. The other new piece of equipment is a large Ballot Box scanner.
The video takes less than 15 minutes to watch on YouTube. It will also be available for viewing on Greenville Public Access TV Wave Channel 5.
The League of Women Voters of Darke County in cooperation with the Board of Elections and Greenville High School’s Wave Channel 5 and IMTV class filmed voters at a recent open house earlier in October at the Board of Election. Voters at the open house could try the machines while “voting” for their favorite dog breed, favorite beach and other items. You can watch the video on YouTube at the wavimtv channel or on TV on channel 5.
After showing a proper I.D. and checking in, voters will be issued a blank paper ballot marked with a bar code to identify their precinct. Voters will then insert the blank ballot into the touch screen Ballot Marking Device. Candidates and issues for the voter’s precinct will appear on the screen. After making selections, voters will be able to review them on the summary and will be able to modify any of their choices by tapping the race or issue they would like to change. Once voters have confirmed their choices, they will select “next” and print. The printed ballot is then pulled from the Ballot Marking Device. Voters can view their selections on the paper ballot, giving them another chance to confirm their vote before taking the ballot to the Ballot Box and inserting it above the green arrow before exiting the polling place. Private votes will be counted only after you have inserted it into the Ballot Box.
The new equipment was purchased to replace the aging machines,which had been used for 14 years. Using the new machines in this November’s election will familiarize voters before the Presidential Primary Election, which is March 17, 2020.
A special thanks to Paul Schlechty, director of the Darke County Board of Elections and the two videographers from Greenville H.S. IMTV program, Micheal Huston and Nate Feurer as well as their instructor Lori Hoover. This was a community service project of the League of Women Voters of Darke County At-Large Unit, a non-partisan political organization whose primary focus is voter service.
Early voting continues at the Board of Elections, 300 Garst Ave. in Greenville on Monday-Friday, Oct. 21–25 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Oct. 28 to Nov. 1, from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, Nov. 3 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Monday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Voting at the regular polling precincts is on Tuesday, Nov. 5 with polls open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. For questions about your voting precinct, call the Board of Elections at 937-548-1835.
