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Putnam County preparing for election

August 28, 2008 @ 12:00 AM

WINFIELD, W.Va. -- The Putnam County Clerk's office is beginning preparations for November's general election.

County Clerk Brian Wood said that public testing of the early voting touch screen equipment will begin on Tuesday, Oct. 7. If time allows, Election Day and tabulation equipment may also be tested that Tuesday. If needed, an additional public testing day has been scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 28.

Early voting is scheduled to begin in the county at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15, and will close out on Saturday, Nov. 1. Voters are to go to the second-floor old courtroom of the Putnam County Courthouse for the early voting process. The early voting schedule is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays; and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Wood said that considering the success of the touch screen equipment during the primaries, the county will continue to use them this fall, though paper ballots will still be available upon request. He added that though some people were a little apprehensive about using the electronic devices previously, many have found them to be much more accommodating than expected.

"A lot of people with vision problems can see the screens better than ovals and optical scans," he said.

Polls are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4. The canvass, a process where a selected amount of ballots are counted by hand and compared to those counted electronically, will take place at 9 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 10. The canvass is intended to ensure accuracy of the tabulation machine within a 1 percent margin of error.

The election results in Putnam County could be certified as the final tally beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 14.

If you would like more information about voting in Putnam County, go to http://elections.putnamcounty.org.

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