By Becky Long
Publisher
Election Board Director Rebecca Hall answers questions about the general election.
How would you describe the local election overall, from the BOE perspective?
Hall: Things went smoothly. We appreciate everyone who helped us in the election, the candidates and voters. Everyone played a part in a successful day.
Regarding turnout:
How many people voted one-stop?
Hall: 3,087
How many absentee ballots did you receive and have they all been counted?
Hall: We have approved 126 absentee ballots and disapproved four, (two of those were redone by voters and in the 126 that were approved).
What are the numbers regarding how many people voted according to party affiliation?
Hall: In absentee by mail and one-stop there were 3,220 ballots total. Of those 539 were Democrat; 1,617, Republican; 1,082, Unitarian; and 10, Libertarian.
Of the overall voters, how many women voted compared to men?
Hall: For one stop and absentee by mail. 1,646 women compared to 1,562 male and 81 undesignated — meaning they didn’t mark in on their registration form.
When do you canvass the votes and determine the “official” results?
Hall: We have canvass at 11 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18. That makes ours official, but until the State Board does their canvass its not completely official
It looked like all votes were posted by precincts by about 9:15 p.m. Is this correct? If so, was it faster than usual and if so, why?
Hall: Yes, we had all results by about 9:15 p.m. Yes, it is faster, we have implemented a new procedure so that we can release the results faster by having one of the precinct workers bring the results from the precinct straight back to the office before they are done with all the other things in the precinct.
Additional comments?
Hall: I would like to thank all my precinct workers for all their hard work and dedication to the election and the time they put in on election day. It is a very long day.
I would also like to thank my office staff and board for all the behind the scenes work they do. And a thank you to Clay County Maintenance Department for helping us. A huge thank you to the voters who came out and voted. We surpassed our turnout for the 2018 general election.