City Of Aberdeen Prepares For Upcoming Democratic Primary

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI)-In two weeks Aberdeen voters will finally be able to cast their ballots for this years Democratic Primary.

This will be the first election in our viewing area since coronavirus restrictions shut just about everything down.

The election was postponed twice due to COVID-19.

Aberdeen sits in Monroe county, which has the highest number of coronavirus cases in our viewing area.

City Clerk Jackie Benson said some residents have expressed concerns about going to the polls due to safety reasons.

As a result, she said they’re taking extreme measures in making sure everyone is safe and comfortable when going to the polls.

“We are giving all of the poll workers masks and gloves,” said Benson. “Of course we are going to be practicing the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommendations as far as social distancing by spreading everything out away from each other so that everyone will feel secure.”

She said they’re also sanitizing all the of the precincts and wiping down all equipment after its been used by voters.

However, for those who still aren’t comfortable visiting the polls, other options are available.

“It’s very important to exercise your right to vote,” Benson expressed. “A lot of people are not feeling secure in coming to the polls, so we’ve had a lot of absentee votes.”

To vote absentee, residents can pull up to city hall and do curbside voting, go inside and vote, or mail in their ballots.

“We’ve had a lot of people just to come in the office because it’s just the office people and there’s only that one person in there, so they feel pretty secure with that,” the city clerk explained.

Along with keeping voters safe, having people who are able to work the polls is also a top priority.

Benson said a few have already called saying they won’t work during this election.

Now she’s creating a list to which employees will be able to handle the work load.

“As the Secretary of State said on the news last night, some of our workers are in the age group that is more susceptible to it (COVID-19), so we’re just trying to take every precaution for them,” said Benson. “We want people to vote, but we want people to be safe too, poll workers and our citizens.”

The city clerk said they will use paper ballots, just like they’ve been using.

Voters are encouraged to wear masks when they come to vote.

Benson said absentee voting will last until May 30th.

The primary is set for June 2nd, and the general election will take place on July 7th.