MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Long before voters even know their election day options, county clerks are working as the chief officials for voter registration, polling locations, candidate listings and final ballots.
Perhaps only the candidates prepare for May primary election as early or as much as county clerk’s offices.
“We have put in hundreds of hours of time in preparing the voting equipment and early voting locations,” calculated Monongalia County Clerk Carye Blaney.
The hundreds of hours begin in January for a May primary and in July for a November general election.
“We work Saturdays, we work evenings, we work some Sundays for months prior to an election just to make sure that we keep everything going and everything running smooth,” Blaney added.
In Monongalia County, the clerk’s office oversees 41 precincts. In Marion County, with 76 precincts, Deputy County Clerk Tom Antulov said if you’re not in the middle of it, it’s hard to fathom election prep work.
“Until I started working for the county clerk’s office and working in elections, you’re truly amazed at what it does take to put on an election.”
From January 11 through May 10, county clerk’s offices manage incoming election information and countless deadlines.
A candidate filing period runs from Jan. 11 through Jan. 30.
From mid January through mid February, candidates are releasing financial campaign disclosures and notifying state and county officials if they are dropping out of a race.
By March 1, county clerk’s offices receive their final list of candidates for the primary ballot.
From mid March to April 19, clerk’s offices are promoting and handling voter registration.
Eight days after that deadline, county and election workers manage early voting over 10 days.
Even the day before election day, logistics could be a “moving day” nightmare without planning ahead.
“Just the process and planning that goes into working with the moving company to get the trucks and the workers that have to be there to load the equipment, coordinating with the precincts the day before the election to get all the equipment delivered, it is a large process,” informed Blaney.
Being able to expedite any part of the process, prior to an election and on election day, is a county clerk’s priority.
For instance, Monongalia County debuted new voting machines that offer real time results while in use. Early voting offers poll workers ample time to get acquainted with the technology according to Blaney.
“Our goal is for a voter to never see anything but smooth transition from the time they walk into a polling location until the time the cast their ballot,” Blaney added.
In Marion County, a drive through system expedites voting machine pick-up and drop-off the night before and the day of an election.
“We’ll have a ton of people here. That’s how we’re able to process the drop-off and get quick election results updated into the software system because of the drive through facility,” Antulov explained.
Meanwhile, there is the regular ongoing business in county clerk’s offices.
“Our office is a large office in county government. All of the deeds are still being recorded. All the birth certificates, marriage license, estate information. We’re still paying payroll twice a month; and we’re still paying every bill for the county,” Blaney noted. “In an election year, we just take an election and sit that on top of everything else.”
Six days after the election, still amid regular county clerk business, there is election canvassing followed by election certifications which take county election workers up until mid to late May.
Less than 45 days later, it is time to start prepping for the November general election.