MONROE - The City of Monroe is implementing additional procedures for poll workers to use to ensure ballot safekeeping and accountability starting at the general election Nov. 4.
City Clerk Carol Stamm said she has requested a police officer to be posted at the main door of the polling place by 8 p.m. when the poll closes and to remain on site until all ballot bags are sealed. The city uses the Recreation Department, located in the basement for the City Hall, as its polling place.
A security camera system that includes cameras in multiple locations around City Hall is being installed this week in preparation of the election. Stamm said the cameras will not be pointed toward voters marking their ballots; the objective is to know who is coming and going from the location.
The Common Council voted unanimously Oct. 7 to purchase and install 11 indoor and three outdoor cameras and a digital video recorder for $7,400. The city had discussed and has been working toward installing a camera security system since 2011, when concealed carry weapons were first permitted by the state.
The Recreation Department will be outfitted with two cameras focused on the main door, one inside and one outside, and one camera in the back hallway, according to Martin Shanks, assistant city administrator. The other cameras will be at points of public contact and entryways to the building. The cameras allow live-feed viewing access and will be recording to provide a month's worth of backup viewing.
Poll workers will not be getting new training, but Stamm said she has refresher training and orientation sessions for poll workers before the poll opens "each and every election morning."
Stamm also said poll workers will be issued more detailed check lists to use at the close of polls.
One new procedure they will be implementing this fall is securing unused ballots, she said.
"All unused ballots will be placed in the unused ballot boxes and sealed, before the official voted ballot box is unlocked," she said.
And the official ballot box will be roped off before it is opened.
"We will physically rope off the ballot area. It will allow the public to view the action but not get beyond the roped off area," Stamm said.
Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said his office is not changing any procedures for securing ballots, but he is going to "make sure the maintenance man doesn't throw away unused ones," until after the recount date.
The city's new procedures are borne out of theories about what happened to 110 missing ballots from the City of Monroe during the August primary. The Green County canvas board realized the ballots were missing when ballots bags were opened at a 17th Senate District Democrat primary recount.
Among the theories: Poll workers may have inadvertently placed used ballots in the stacks of unused ballots, which were then taken to the county clerk's office for disposal, and easy public access to ballots could have allowed any person to walk off with a handful of ballots, unbeknownst to poll workers. Poll workers reported an unknown man was at the Monroe polling place at the close of the poll, asking questions specifically about the 17th Senate race.
The ballot machines are not considered to have been malfunctioning during the primary, but the county is working to purchase new ballot machines for 2015. Stamm said the new machines will capture an image of each ballot cast, which will be stored on a memory chip. In the event of a recount, canvas board members can then "go back and view each ballot," she added.
Doyle said the new machines need state certification to be put into use. The new machines will be leased for $450,000 over an eight-year period. Doyle is forewarning the county's 22 municipalities to include in their budgets about $2,000 annually to help defray the costs. The county will cover the remaining costs, as well as continue to cover the costs of ballot printing.
City Clerk Carol Stamm said she has requested a police officer to be posted at the main door of the polling place by 8 p.m. when the poll closes and to remain on site until all ballot bags are sealed. The city uses the Recreation Department, located in the basement for the City Hall, as its polling place.
A security camera system that includes cameras in multiple locations around City Hall is being installed this week in preparation of the election. Stamm said the cameras will not be pointed toward voters marking their ballots; the objective is to know who is coming and going from the location.
The Common Council voted unanimously Oct. 7 to purchase and install 11 indoor and three outdoor cameras and a digital video recorder for $7,400. The city had discussed and has been working toward installing a camera security system since 2011, when concealed carry weapons were first permitted by the state.
The Recreation Department will be outfitted with two cameras focused on the main door, one inside and one outside, and one camera in the back hallway, according to Martin Shanks, assistant city administrator. The other cameras will be at points of public contact and entryways to the building. The cameras allow live-feed viewing access and will be recording to provide a month's worth of backup viewing.
Poll workers will not be getting new training, but Stamm said she has refresher training and orientation sessions for poll workers before the poll opens "each and every election morning."
Stamm also said poll workers will be issued more detailed check lists to use at the close of polls.
One new procedure they will be implementing this fall is securing unused ballots, she said.
"All unused ballots will be placed in the unused ballot boxes and sealed, before the official voted ballot box is unlocked," she said.
And the official ballot box will be roped off before it is opened.
"We will physically rope off the ballot area. It will allow the public to view the action but not get beyond the roped off area," Stamm said.
Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said his office is not changing any procedures for securing ballots, but he is going to "make sure the maintenance man doesn't throw away unused ones," until after the recount date.
The city's new procedures are borne out of theories about what happened to 110 missing ballots from the City of Monroe during the August primary. The Green County canvas board realized the ballots were missing when ballots bags were opened at a 17th Senate District Democrat primary recount.
Among the theories: Poll workers may have inadvertently placed used ballots in the stacks of unused ballots, which were then taken to the county clerk's office for disposal, and easy public access to ballots could have allowed any person to walk off with a handful of ballots, unbeknownst to poll workers. Poll workers reported an unknown man was at the Monroe polling place at the close of the poll, asking questions specifically about the 17th Senate race.
The ballot machines are not considered to have been malfunctioning during the primary, but the county is working to purchase new ballot machines for 2015. Stamm said the new machines will capture an image of each ballot cast, which will be stored on a memory chip. In the event of a recount, canvas board members can then "go back and view each ballot," she added.
Doyle said the new machines need state certification to be put into use. The new machines will be leased for $450,000 over an eight-year period. Doyle is forewarning the county's 22 municipalities to include in their budgets about $2,000 annually to help defray the costs. The county will cover the remaining costs, as well as continue to cover the costs of ballot printing.