County auditors gearing up for election

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM - Four days remain until millions of Americans go to their local polling places and vote for their candidate of choice.

In the meantime, county auditors all over the state are gearing up for what many state and local officials believe will be one the largest voter turnouts in recent U.S. history.

Absentee ballots have already come to county auditor's offices at a record pace not seen since the last time a president was elected in 2000. Many local officials say they are expecting a record turnout on Nov. 3.

Many area county auditors say there isn't much that's new about the way the election will be handled, aside from federal and state laws governing election administration and voting systems. The federal government passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002 in response to the ballot controversy in Florida that ultimately sent the outcome of the election to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Most area counties will still be using the same technology used to count votes in their last elections. Most use optical scanners, which use electronic eyes to read marks on ballots and then tally the votes by computer. Others, like Watonwan County, are counting the votes by hand.

With a presidential election on hand and many candidates in the races for local school board and city council seats, some officials, like Brown County Auditor Treasurer Marlin Helget, are expecting a higher voter turnout than in non-presidential election years. He said he projects between 85-90 percent turnout for this year.

"I think the presidential election is a big issue and there are local school board races," he said. "There's a lot on the national and local level. Sometimes you don't have that."

With HAVA and similar state laws in effect, voters will be required to bring either a driver's license or a Social Security card to the polls and those who have changed addresses within the last 30 days should also bring a utility bill, according to a representative of the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. The new laws will also require a statewide voter registration system and a link to the Minnesota Driver and Vehicle Services database.

Brown County is presently training its election judges and is following up on the state voting statutes and keeping in touch with the Secretary of State's office. Helget recommended that voters register as soon as possible. Helget said Brown County won't get new voting technology until 2006 and there's "nothing major" as far as new election procedures are concerned.

Redwood County Auditor Treasurer Larry L. Bunting said Redwood County will be using the same procedures and equipment used in the last election. He said he isn't making any predictions on how many voters could turn out on Wednesday but said that many absentee ballots have come back to his office.

"It was a little bit higher yesterday compared to four years ago," he said.

Sibley County Auditor Lisa Pfarr said Sibley County will be using precinct counters like it did two years ago. Aside from the fact that voters are encouraged to bring a driver's license or a Social Security card to the polls, the election will be conducted in a similar fashion to those of years passed.

Preparing for Wednesday night has been a long process that began at the end of May when county staff received training from the Secretary of State. Pfarr said the county is now in the process of training election officials and making sure its voting systems are up to speed.

"It's been lots of training, testing and preparing," she said.

County auditor's offices are open this weekend from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to get absentee ballot voters registered.