County Prepares CDC Protocols for Primary Election on Tuesday

 

 

County Prepares CDC Protocols for Primary Election on Tuesday

 

    The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the state and county officials to make adjustments to the typical voting process for the primary election, which will be Tuesday, June 2. 
    The state began encouraging voting by absentee ballot in early April, and as a result, many South Dakotans have voted by mail.
    In Grant County, more than 725 registered voters received absentee ballots, and 514 had returned their voted ballots by Thursday, May 21. With 4,928 registered voters in the county, the number of absentee ballots filed is above 16 percent. 
    Absentee voting continues through Monday, June 1, at 5 p.m. The absentee ballots can be mailed to the auditor’s office or returned in the dropbox near the south entrance to the courthouse. Only individuals who are sick or confined will have the option of requesting an absentee ballot until June 2, at 3 p.m. They can do so by calling the auditor’s office. 
    Any voter who requested an absentee ballot, but has not voted it and returned it to the auditor’s office may still go to the polls and vote in person, according to Karen Layher, Grant County auditor. “As long as the absentee ballot has not been receipted in at our office, and the voter goes to the polls, they can be processed there,” she said. 
    Those residents who choose to go to the polls will need to check their precinct voting location. The Grant County Commission voted in early April to reduce the number of polling places from the usual 14 to six. 
       Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on June 2.  The polling places are:
    • Milbank Visitor Center at 1001 E. 4th Ave., Milbank for all Milbank wards and precincts
    • Revillo Community Center at 310 N. 2nd St., Revillo for Adams and Vernon Townships, Towns of Albee and Revillo, Georgia and Madison Township and Town of LaBolt.
    • Grant County Public Library at 207 E. Park Ave., Milbank for 
Alban, Grant Center and Melrose Townships
    • Big Stone City Office at 400 Washington in Big Stone City for Big Stone City and Big Stone Township
    • Marvin Hall at 204 S. Church St., Marvin for Blooming Valley, Farmington, Lura, Mazeppa-Osceola Twin Brooks and Kilborn Townships, as well as the Town of Marvin and Town of Twin Brooks.
    • Stockholm Community Center at 400 E. Johnson Avenue in Stockholm for Stockholm and Troy Townships, as well as the Town of Stockholm and the Town of Strandburg. 
    “With fewer polling places, it reduces the number of election workers we need, and it also reduces the number of locations that we need to keep sanitized,” Layher explained. “We want the voters to get out and vote, and we want them and the workers to feel safe in the process.”  
    Those who go to the polls on Tuesday will be asked to stop at a hand sanitizing station as they enter the area for their precinct. “We ask that they use the sanitizer to sanitize their hands before continuing,” Layher said. 
    As the voters approach the election table, they will find a plexiglass sneeze guard separating them from the election workers, who will be wearing gloves and face masks. The workers will also be provided with optional face shields. 
    Each voter will stop about two feet from the election table and show their photo identification to the workers. The workers will process the voter as they usually would, checking the name in the registration book, writing their name in the poll book and stamping the official ballot before putting the ballot in a disposable privacy sleeve and sliding it under the sneeze guard to the voter. 
    The voters will be instructed to pick up a brand new pen to use when they vote. The pen is to leave with the voter when he or she is done voting and exits the booth. After marking the ballot and putting it in the privacy sleeve, the voter returns to the election table. There, they will show just enough of the ballot, so the election worker can see that the ballot bears the official stamp. The voters will then slide the ballot into the locked ballot box and dispose of the sleeve. 
    As the voters leave, they may once again sanitize at the hand sanitizing station if they wish. 
    Election workers will sanitize the voting booth after each person. 
    Because the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requirements for social distancing must be upheld, a six-foot space between each voter or couple will be maintained. 
    Those who are waiting to enter will need to keep a six-foot spacing between household groups. “We will mark distances with X’s on the carpet,” Layher said. Election workers will monitor the social distancing. 
    “We want to encourage everyone to vote, and ask that they be patient with the process,” Layher said. “The ballot is short, so it won’t take each person very long to vote, and the lines should move pretty fast.” 
    In contrast to how they are typically handled, the absentee ballots will be processed at the courthouse on election day. When the polling places close, and the locked ballot boxes are returned to the courthouse, the absentee ballots will be put with correct precincts for the tallying of votes.
    Preliminary election results will be available on the South Dakota Secretary of State website beginning at 8 p.m. 
   In the primary election, registered Republicans can vote for either Mike Rounds, incumbent, or Scyller J. Borglum for the United States Senate seat. They may also vote for either Dusty Johnson, incumbent, or Liz Marty May for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. 
    On the Democratic primary ballot, voters may vote for either Bernie Sanders or Joseph R. Biden to face off against President Donald Trump in the general election in November. 
~Holli Seehafer

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Grant County Review

Grant County Review
P.O. Box 390
Milbank, SD 57252
(605) 432-4516

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