Noting procedures adapt to pandemic concerns

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Carroll County Clerk Connie Doss spoke last week about the upcoming 2020 election and said processes now taking place are to ensure a safe and accurate voter experience.

Doss said her office has received 1400 absentee ballot requests compared to the 350 for the 2016 election. She said she and her staff were prepared for the record high increase of absentee requests, citing current health pandemic. “We accept the absentee requests freely and with no judgment,” Doss said.

Once an absentee ballot request is received, her office mails the voter a ballot with a checklist attached. “Do not let this ballot sit on your kitchen table,” Doss said.

She said each absentee ballot includes a detailed checklist which includes signing the voter statement, placing the voter’s birth date on that statement, and including a photocopy of the voter’s state-issued photo ID. If the voter does not have access to a copier, Doss said local libraries will provide a photocopy for election purposes at no cost to the voter.

Once the checklist items are completed, the voter should mail the absentee ballot with the requested items back to her office via US mail using the blue US Postal service boxes outside the Post Office in Berryville, Eureka Springs, Green Forest, or Holiday Island.

Doss has spoken to the local postmasters and they have agreed to locally presort absentee ballot envelopes for daily direct shipments to Berryville.

“Our ballots will not go outside the county,” Doss said, assuring cooperative efforts of postmasters to arrange delivery of absentee ballots to the lockbox at the Berryville courthouse.

As the absentee ballot envelopes are received, Doss’s staff will scan in the bar code on each envelope recording their receipt for tracking online at voterview.org. The voter can go to this website as frequently as they like to check if their ballot envelope was received. “This is an added resource for the voter,” Doss said adding that this should minimize phone call requests for receipt of their absentee ballot.

Voterview.org can also be used to verify voter registration. “Now is the time to check your registration,” Doss said, as the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 5. Once registered, voters can head to the polls early starting Oct. 19 using one of the two early voting centers: St. Elizabeth Parish Center at 232 Passion Play Road in Eureka Springs, or St. Anne Parish Center at 614 S. Main in Berryville. There are six voting centers available for those waiting to cast their vote on Nov. 3 and the addresses are listed at voterview.org.

Addressing rumors about attempts to vote twice Doss said, “Obviously voting twice is voter fraud.” She said protocols are in place to ensure accuracy, “With the new voting equipment that we have it is virtually impossible for someone to walk in and vote a second time.” If someone was sent an absentee ballot and then attempts to vote at a voter center, Doss said, controls are in place disallowing that voter a regular ballot. “You cannot vote twice,” she said.

Doss said the county has received concerns from the public who worry that the polls will be closed due to the pandemic, and she assured us they will be open, “By law we have to open them — they are going to be open.” She said the county has received sufficient cleaning supplies for each voter center and has specifically trained staff to frequently sanitize surface areas.

Each voting center will be equipped with a touch-free sanitizing station and will provide a mask if the voter does not have one. “We can’t demand that they wear a face covering, but we highly encourage folks to wear a mask and social distance.” Doss wants to remind the public that campaign rhetoric cannot be displayed on masks, earrings, clothing, or purses when in a voting center. 

Lastly, the “I voted” sticker will not be provided at this election. Instead, each voter will be given a disposable stylus for touch-free voting. This year the election process is different from years past, but the spirit of the vote remains the same. “It takes a village and we’re trying to create an election village here,” Doss said.

Anyone interested in becoming an election worker should contact the Carroll County Clerk’s office at (870) 423-2022. Printable sample ballots are now available at voterview.org.