Butler County election officials demonstrate digital poll pads
Butler County election officials on Thursday, May 8, demonstrated the digital poll pads that will be used in place of paper poll books at three precincts in the upcoming primary, and most county precincts in the November general election.
The poll pads will be used at the Cranberry Township East 2, Butler City 5 and the Franklin Township precincts.
Bureau of Elections director Chantell McCurdy and Cory Wagner, of poll pad provider Knowink, held a training session for more than a dozen poll workers and some bureau employees earlier in the day before they held a public demonstration in the government center annex.
The poll pads reduce paperwork and make it easier for poll workers to direct voters who show up at the wrong precinct to the correct precinct, McCurdy said.
“It does away with a lot of paperwork,” she said.
Voters will in the three test precincts will notice the change soon after arriving.
When a voter checks in, a poll worker types in his or her name. The precinct where the voter is supposed to vote appears on the screen. If the voter is at the wrong precinct, the worker gives them the option to vote there with a provisional ballot or go to the correct precinct to vote, McCurdy said.
The pad, which is attached to a small printer, will print the address of the correct precinct if the voter selects that option. If the voter decides to cast a provisional ballot, the pad creates a record noting they selected that option, she said.
Voters will then be shown another screen containing the address attached to their name. The pads have an option that allows it to it reads the voter’s name and address aloud.
The poll worker will ask if the information is correct. If it is, the voter will sign the screen using a digital pen and the poll work adds his or her initials in a different place on the screen.
If a voter shows his or her driver’s license during check-in, the poll pads can scan the license and retrieve the voter’s correct precinct and address.
Next, the poll worker gives the voter two slips of paper printed from the attached printer. One is a receipt the voter can keep and the voter gives the other slip, which lists the voter’s party affiliation, to the next poll worker who will hand them a ballot.
From that point, the voting process is the same as it is when paper poll books are used. The voter completes the ballot and puts it into a scanner which records the vote.
The precincts where the pads are being used in the primary and general elections will have paper poll books as backups if the pads fail, McCurdy said.
In the general election, poll pads will not be used at seven precincts with less than 100 registered voters. Paper poll books will be use at those precincts, she said.
Two poll pads will be used at the precincts, and voters can get in line at either one, she said.
At precincts where poll books will be used, voters with last names beginning with letters A through L stand in one line and voters with last names beginning with letters M through Z stand in another line. Poll workers tell voters to sign on a line in one of the books that lists all voters in the precinct before voters receives their ballots.
McCurdy said poll pads eliminate the possibility of a voter signing the wrong line in a poll book.
When a voter shows up at the wrong precinct and paper poll books are being used there, poll workers call the bureau to determine the voter’s correct precinct if the voter is uncertain, she said.
