Election staffers to roll out new voting machines
National Voter Registration Day fell on Tuesday, and about 165 Butler County residents signed up to vote.
Shari Brewer, director of Butler County's elections bureau, said the figure isn't far off from a normal Tuesday this close to an election, as Tuesday is normally when registrations come from the state that were filed through driver's license applications.
As of Wednesday, the county had 126,729 registered voters. To vote in the November election, one must register by Oct. 7.
Butler County's bureau, similar to others across the state, is gearing up for the November elections. Aside from registering new voters, election staffers are hosting several upcoming instructional events centered on using new voting machines.
“I'm excited and anxious,” Brewer said of the technology changes. “I'm hoping everything goes OK. There's a lot of new procedures we need to work out and lots of training we need to do with poll workers.”
On Nov. 5, voters in Butler County will participate in a variety of elections, including for Superior Court judge, various school boards and prothonotary.
When they arrive to cast ballots, voters will choose their preferences by filling in bubbles on a printed page. To vote, ballots are slid into a machine at each precinct. The machine reads the ballot, tallies the vote and stores the paper in a locked box.
Each precinct also is getting a machine geared toward helping people with disabilities fill out a ballot. The machines can enlarge text and increase contrast for easier viewing. They also have a set of headphones and a special controller for blind voters to use.
Voters using just the usual paper ballots will be given their ballots in manila folders. Privacy booths will be available for use.
Anyone wanting to check out the new voting machines ahead of the election can do so at one of six upcoming events.Machines will be available for demonstration at the following times:- 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday at General Butler Vagabonds in Lyndora- 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Pullman Park- 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at Alameda Park- 6 p.m. Oct. 3 at Concordia's Haven 2 Chapel- 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Heaton Family Learning Commons Lobby- 6 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center.A Slippery Rock University demo is being planned, but a date is not yet set.
