News: Unicoi County

Election commissioners inspect machines, begin early voting

July 24, 2008

The Unicoi County Election Commission has started early voting for the upcoming election, and will continue through August 2.

The August 7th election will elect the Unicoi County offices of Assessor of Property, Circuit Court Clerk, and 2nd District members of the School Board. Voters will also select either Republican or Democratic candidates for United States Senate, United States House of Representatives, and Tennessee House of Representatives.

Early voting takes place in the Unicoi County Election Commission office at 106 Nolichucky Avenue from Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

On Friday, 95 people voted during early voting, and Sarah Bailey said that is was a real good turnout for the first day.

The Unicoi County Election Commission met Wednesday, July 16 to inspect the voting machines and lock and seal the ballot and provisional boxes. Out of the 25 machines that were inspected, four of them will be used for early voting.

All of the Election Commissioners along with machine technician Steve Keesecker and Administrator of Elections Sarah Bailey were present to record protective counts and recorded votes on each of the machines.

Each machine was opened, turned on, inspected, and then sealed on both the inside and the outside. The seals were marked with unique identification numbers to ensure that the machines are not tampered with in the time between inspection and use.

During early voting and on Election Day, the seal numbers will be matched with the records to identify the correct machines.

The ballot boxes are designated for paper voters, and the provisional boxes are for someone who tried to register on time but is listed as unregistered.

For more information, please contact the Unicoi County Election Commission at 743-6521.