Poll Workers Prepare For Election Day

OKTIBBEHA COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- In less than 24 hours voters will be able to go to the polls and cast their vote in the General Election.

Poll workers in Oktibbeha County spent much of their Monday evening making sure everything was in place to help them run a smooth operation.

“It’s pretty hectic, it’s a lot of work that goes into this,” said Joe Baker, Chairman of the Oktibbeha County Election Commission.

One of the first things on the to-do list was to get all of the voting machines in place.

Baker said they have to calibrate each machine and make sure it’s properly sealed for security purposes.

“Each of these machines have seals,” Baker explained. “We have to be sure that they haven’t been tampered with. We put new seals on them and in the morning, the people working at the polls will take these seals off and put in the memory cards and get the machines ready to start voting on in the morning.”

Once they finished taking care of the machines, workers then checked to make sure their poll books were in order, ensuring voters are at the right precincts.

“It’s just a lot of little details that you have to be doing,” Baker expressed. “It’s a lot of paperwork, and I don’t particularly like that part of it, but that’s something we have to do to assure that everything is secure and the election is run fair and honest.”

However, the work doesn’t stop once election night rolls around.

After the polls have closed, workers have to take all of the boxes from the precincts to the courthouse, and then count all of the votes and absentee ballots.

It’s a long and challenging task, but Baker said it’s all a part of the job and making sure the election is run fairly and smoothly.

“We have a good many poll workers that’ll be working tomorrow, probably 75 or 80 in this particular county,” said Baker. “We have five election commissioners, plus a circuit clerk and his staff that will be working the election tomorrow.”

Just as a reminder for election day, the polls will be open from 7 o’clock in the morning until 7 o’clock in the evening.

Remember, you must have a valid photo ID with you in order to vote.

Also, you may want to leave the cellphone in the car, because you are not allowed to take pictures of your ballot.

Poll workers tell WCBI  you can bring a sample ballot with you.