In preparation for the upcoming Nov. 6 local and federal elections, the Oktibbeha County Election Commission and the Circuit Clerk’s Office held election training for poll managers Wednesday at the Oktibbeha County Circuit Court building, with another class set for Thursday morning.
Oktibbeha County Circuit Clerk Tony Rook said the overall goal of the training this week is to meet necessary training requirements. Yet Rook sees a further purpose for the training.
“My goal is to maintain and protect the integrity of the election process,” Rook said.
Rook believes the poll manager training plays a vital role in protecting the integrity of the election process.
“I think today went very well,” Rook said. “It was extremely smooth.”
Oktibbeha County Election Commission Chair and District 3 Election Commissioner Myles Carpenter led the planning for the training sessions.
“I am more pleased with today than I have ever been,” Carpenter said. “We mixed up the video and we had Tony here. people love to see their circuit clerks and see their interest.”
There are close to 100 poll managers in Oktibbeha County.
“We’ll have three separate sessions of poll manager training involving approximately 100 poll managers,” Rook said.
Rook said the poll managers seemed to truly care about the election process during the training Wednesday.
“The poll workers were engaged. They want to learn,” Rook said. “I think they care about the election process as well.”
“And that’s good for all voters in Oktibbeha County to have poll workers who are engaged and want to understand the process and do the best job they can do,” Rook added.
During the sessions, each commissioner, Rook and the Oktibbeha County Election Deputy Clerk Sheryl Elmore gave an interactive lecture on one election topic. For example, Carpenter covered how an ideal election day would go.
“We’ve never done that before,” Carpenter said. “And even though that was my idea, I like it.”
“I think it worked great,” Rook agreed.
After Carpenter went through an ideal election day, the remaining speakers covered potential and likely issues that could occur on election day.
“We covered things that could occur if you don’t have an ideal day, but a realistic day,” Rook said. “And each one of us would cover one of those issues.”
The poll managers also gave input on any issues they have run into in the past.
“We were able to interact with these poll workers and they told us issues they have seen,” Rook said. “And the goal basically is to discover if there are any issues we need to address before election day occurs. And if so, we need to nd solutions for those issues.”
Separate from Rook, Elmore and Carpenter, the people behind the scenes who help the election process go smoothly in Oktibbeha County are District 1 Election Commissioner Greg Fulgham, District 2 Election Commissioner Sissy Smitherman, District 4 Election Commissioner Joe Baker and District 5 Election Commissioner Ernest Rogers.
Carpenter said he thought Baker did well covering the affadavit ballots Wednesday.
“One thing I talked about is why some voters are not in the poll books,” Baker said. “Some people have moved from one precinct to another and haven’t updated their addresses with the (Circuit Clerk’s Office). So if they go to the new precinct, their name may not be on the poll book.”
Baker said Oktibbeha voters still have time to update any new addresses before the poll books are printed.
“If they make sure we have their updated address, that would help a lot, too, and they won’t have to do an updated ballot,” Baker said.
Fulgham also encouraged Oktibbeha voters to be more understanding toward the poll managers if an address is not updated in the poll book.
“People sometimes get offended if they’re not in the poll book,” Fulgham said. “But it’s not the poll workers’ faults, so don’t jump on them.”
Yet, it’s still possible to vote with an affadavit on election day if a registered voter is in his or her correct and current precinct.
“If they show up and their name’s not in the poll book, they can still vote. They just have to vote by an affadavit ballot,” Fulgham said.
Once an individual updates his or her address on the affadavit ballot, the new address will be updated.
“If they fill out an affadavit and put the correct address on there, when it comes back here we will update their address,” Fulgham said. “And the address will be moved back to an accurate status.”
Rook said updating a change in address with the Circuit Clerk’s Office is important.
“It’s critically important for voters to maintain a current address,” Rook said. “One thing they don’t realize is we send out approximately 2,000 jury summonses per year.”
“If an individual fails to respond to the jury summons, they’re taken off the poll book,” Rook said. “They can still vote, but they would have to vote affadavit at that point.”
In general, when any mail is returned to the Circuit Clerk’s Office, the voters are taken off of their previous poll book.
As he reflected on the day, Rook said the election process as a whole is complicated, which begs the needs for experienced oversight.
“The election process is very detailed. It’s very sophisticated. There’s an elaborate system of checks and balances to ensure the integrity of the process,” Rook said. “The process is much more involved and sophisticated than I think the average individual realizes.”
Yet, Rook said due to the work of the commissioners and the staff, the election process in Oktibbeha County runs smoothly despite its intricacies.
“(The community) should be assured that it’s a safe and secure process,” Rook said. “We have a very able and competent election commission, which is appreciated greatly.”
“We have to thank our staff too,” Rook added. “We’ve been very fortunate to have a great staff. Sheryl Elmore, our election clerk, has done an outstanding job and these ladies put in long hours and they’re very serious about the process.”