Election Board continues quest toward Nov. 4

For starters, Oct. 6 will be the last day people can register to vote in Calloway County. That will be part of a busy stretch for the board, including two days in which multiple activities will happen.

The first of those days will be Oct. 13 when the Calloway County Accuracy Board will meet, followed by the customary certification of voting machines. Those activities will happen near the 8:30 a.m. time frame at an undisclosed location.

The Accuracy Board will consist of David Roos, Bobby Stubblefield and Dennis Crawford. 

That will be followed closely by Oct. 15 when absentee voting opens at the Calloway County Courthouse at 8 a.m. Later that day, the mandatory election school for precinct workers is set for 5:30 p.m., at the Calloway County Senior Citizens Center inside the George Weaks Community Center with Butch Pass of the Harp firm of Lexington serving as the main instructor. 

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One of the matters Pass is sure to discuss that afternoon will be how workers will man some precincts featuring multiple ballots not available to all voters. Calloway County Clerk Antonia Faulkner, who is also the election board chairperson, said who receives what ballot is dependent on where voters reside.

She gave the Murray 5 precinct at the CFSB Center on the Murray State University campus as an example. Murray City Council, Calloway County Fiscal Court, Murray Independent School District and Calloway County Schools Board of Education races will be in possession of the poll workers that day.

“In that precinct, though, you’re going to have four different ballots, because you’re going to have some people who won’t be able to vote for the city races, while others won’t be able to vote for the county races,” Faulkner said, noting that there will be other precincts handling at least two ballots as well. “This is not the first time we’ve had to face this, though, and it will be covered during the school so I think our people will be ready.”

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Also Wednesday, election board members Bill Cowan and Dottie Lyons discussed their precinct worker lists. Lyons submitted hers to Faulkner during the meeting while Cowan had submitted his earlier. 

Both, though, continued to reiterate the need for more people wishing to be election precinct officers to express that desire as a strong number of reserves is needed in case workers already penciled in for Nov. 4 suddenly are not able to perform their duties. Anyone wishing to be an election officer is asked to contact Cowan at 270-753-8865 or Lyons at 270-753-6351.