With new election laws and Wood County planning to hold future elections with new voting equipment, County Judge Kevin White called a meeting of the Wood County Elections Commission to review the county’s statutory requirements heading into the Nov. 7 constitutional amendments election.

This marks the first general election held in the county since he took office Jan. 1. The county has had to make upgrades to its voting procedures as its old voting system could no longer be serviced.

White said he wants to make sure everyone is on the same page.

Elections Administrator Laura Wise provided an outline of her office’s responsibilities.

Among issues discussed was the approval of election judges and the potential complications that could arise next spring during the party primaries.

Unlike the November election, where the county is fully responsible, the primaries are conducted by the political parties.

Wood County Republicans have indicated they will hold their own primary rather than the joint primaries of recent years.

That spawned a discussion about the county’s recent purchase of polling pads and ballot scanners to replace the old system.

The county purchased two of each for the eleven polling sites plus two each for early voting.

The intent was that each site would have a backup in case of any issues.

But with the Republicans holding a separate primary, that is no longer the case, as each party would have only one and no backup.

In particular, the procedures for a voter who cannot come into the polling site were reviewed, which would require the polling pad to be temporarily removed from the polling site and taken to the voter, potentially causing a delay for voters in line.

White said the county may have to look at purchasing additional equipment to accommodate the separate primaries.

It was acknowledged that typically there are very few instances of that, although there were hundreds during the election held during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the Nov. 7 election will help determine how much of an issue it could be.

Amendment elections typically have lower voter turnout.

Another issue brought up was the list of election judges from the Republican Party that was rejected by the secretary of state as it listed emergency judges.

Wise said that she was told that list is allowed only in counties with countywide voting centers.

Republican Chairman Kathy Wakeman said she did that to be prepared for the possibility of another pandemic impacting the availability of judges.

Also, with the separate primaries, each party must provide a judge and an alternate for each precinct.

When joint elections are held, the judge is a Republican and the alternate is a Democrat.

Wakeman said that is one of the reasons the Republicans want to have a separate primary, so that the judge and alternate are both Republicans.

She added that they do plan to use the same polling sites, which led to a discussion on how to direct voters to the proper location within the facility.

Also mentioned was the potential need for security at polling locations. White said the separate county elections board may need to meet to discuss possible security measures and costs. The county sheriff serves on that board.

White asked that all election-related matters that will require approval from commissioners be ready for the next meeting on Oct. 17, to be done ahead of the Nov. 7 election.

Early voting for Nov. 7 will begin Oct. 23.

It will be held at the elections office in Quitman Oct. 23-27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Nov. 2-3 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The party chairs indicated they would be meeting with Wise to work out details for the primaries.