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Training on new equipment begins

Everything will be in place for August primary

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Left to right, Caroyln Szatkowski, Theresa Dignan and Theresa Green train on a new tabulator that will be used during the primary election in August. Alpena County, the townships and City of Alpena all received updated election gear thanks to funding through the Help America Vote Act.

ALPENA — Michigan’s primary election isn’t for another month, but election workers from Alpena County were busy learning how to operate new equipment that will be used when the polls open Aug. 7.

The new tabulators and voter assist terminals were set up neatly in the Merchants Building at Alpena County Fairgrounds and the workers were being trained on their use.

County Clerk Bonnie Friedrichs said the county received $150,000 from Help America Vote Act for the new equipment, while the townships and City of Alpena each paid $1,300 to acquire $8,000 worth of new equipment. She said the new equipment was needed, as the old hardware was dated and there were some issues. Friedrichs said any issues with the old equipment didn’t affect the accuracy of elections. the new gear, Friedrichs said this will make it simpler to workers to tabulate results and forward them to the clerk’s office, as well as improve security against election fraud.

“We were having more paper jams and battery failures and minor things going wrong,” she said. “We are using wireless modeming of results instead of analog, so it will be more secure. It is a dedicated secure system. The database isn’t connected to any internet or online and everything will be kept more secure.”

The voters assist terminals will be able to help people who have disabilities vote much more easily, Friedrichs said. She said the units have touch screens and can read the ballot to you. There also is braille on some of the paddles.

After the hands-on training is complete, employees will required to take an online course that will address topics such as paperwork, poll books and new procedures that were implemented by the state.

Friedrichs said election results around the country have been questioned in recent elections, but she said in Alpena there haven’t been any large issues and vote tallies have been accurate. She said maintaining election integrity is important.

“People want to vote, you want it to be secret and know it is going to count,” Friedrichs said. “That is why it is important to have the latest technology and do everything we can do to keep our system secure.”

Training at the fairgrounds will continue today.

Steve Schulwitz can be reached via email at sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5689. Follow Steve on Twitter ss_alpenanews.

News Photo by Steve Schulwitz
Left to right, Caroyln Szatkowski, Theresa Dignan and Theresa Green train on a new tabulator that will be used during the primary election in August. Alpena County, the townships and City of Alpena all received updated election gear thanks to funding through the Help America Vote Act.

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