Photo by Becky Polaski Mary Jo McKnight, Judge of Election for the 9th District in St. Marys, examines a ‘zero sheet’ on Tuesday morning to ensure that all of the voting machines at the Comfort Inn were working properly.

By Becky Polaski

Staff Writer

While voters only need to spend a limited amount of time at voting sites, the clerks, Inspectors of Election and Judges of Election all put in long hours to ensure that voting runs smoothly and the election results are correct. 

According to Mary Jo McKnight, Judge of Election for the 9th District in St. Marys, each voting district has two inspectors, a minority inspector and a majority inspector, two clerks, and one judge.

Since the polls open at 7 a.m. the inspectors, clerks, and judge all typically arrive at the voting site around 6:30 a.m. The voting site for the 9th District is the Comfort Inn which is located along the Million Dollar Highway in St. Marys.

As Judge of Election, McKnight was responsible for setting up the voting machines at the Comfort Inn on Election Day and had to print what she referred to as a ‘zero sheet’ which indicates there are no votes on any of the machines prior to the polls opening at 7 a.m. This ‘zero sheet’ is then signed by the judge, inspectors, and clerks and placed on display so that voters can see that the machines are working properly.

The voting machines open automatically at 7 a.m. and close automatically at 8 p.m.

“If there is a line and it is 8 p.m. and these machines shut down, I can restart the machine and let that person vote,” McKnight explained. “But if they come in even two minutes after 8 p.m. then it is too late.”

McKnight added that the size of each voting district is used to determine how many voting machines are at each location. According to McKnight there are 855 registered voters in the 9th District, which had four voting machines available for the election on Tuesday.

At the end of the evening a grand total of all the votes is printed. One of the clerks has a list of all those who voted and her tally is compared with the machine total to ensure that everything is working properly.

McKnight added that the clerks check to make sure that each individual that comes in is registered to vote in that district. Additionally, she noted that all first-time voters must provide a valid form of ID.

“That is a must. They don’t get to vote until they do,” McKnight said. “If a provisional ballot is given to an individual they would still have to take their ID down to the courthouse before it is approved.”

McKnight explained that, while individuals are only required to show ID the first time they vote, she believes they should be required to do it at each election.

“If I had my way they’d show it every time,” McKnight said. “I don’t worry so much about the people around here because we know mostly everybody, but take, for example, the cities where you don’t know people.”

After the polls are closed all of the absentee ballots must also be counted.

“This time we only have about 13 but there are times we’ve had 50 to 70,” McKnight explained. “They all have to be put in by hand.”

Along with her other duties, McKnight also helps out with any problems that arise at the site, which includes calling the constable if individuals become particularly disruptive. While she noted that she has never had to do this, McKnight explained that the constable could be called for reasons such as disruptive individuals handing out literature outside the voting site.

As Judge of Election, she must also seal all of the machines and then take the print out of the results to the Courthouse in Ridgway. She noted that, on a typical Election Day, she tends to get home around 10 p.m.