Officials in Lake County brace for big voter turnout
Lake County election officials are bracing for a record general election turnout, augmented by about 50,000 absentee ballots.
The turnout is fueled by the presidential race between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The ongoing coronavirus pandemic that worries many voters is triggering the surge in absentee ballots.
Michelle Fajman, director of the Lake County Board of Elections and Voter Registration, told the election board Thursday she doubts any results will be availLeAnn Angerman said they were already preparing flow charts for poll workers to head off problems.
Election board members also oversaw the public test of a random sample of 60 MicroVote voting machines to be used Nov. 3. State law requires 5% of the machines used in the election to be tested.
Behind the machines were boxes of face masks, hand sanitizer, face shields and other personal protection equipment for the election because of the pandemic. Early voting at 11 sites begins Tuesday and the equipment will be distributed for those sites as well as Nov. 3 polling sites.
Board members sparred over establishing written policies to better monitor the distribution of election equipment. Dumezich and board member Mike Mellon, both Republicans, argued a policy would ensure the equipment was picked up by an authorized person, if an inspector can’t do it.
The vote failed along party lines, however, 3-2.
The vo t i n g location for Precinct 3 in Whiting will be moved from its May primary site at Sacred Heart Church to Whiting High School, its original location.