New vote centers work smoothly in Madison County

May 4—ALEXANDRIA — Jerry Lacy just knew he was going to be late picking up his grandchildren when he decided to stop by the voting center at the 4-H Building in Beulah Park Tuesday afternoon.

After all, in the 2020 presidential election, it took Alexandria voters up to seven hours to make their way through the line and to the voting machine.

But five minutes after he arrived, Lacy was stepping back out the door.

"It was quick and easy," he said. "It was a lot easier than trying to figure out which precinct to go to."

Lacy's experience was similar to voters throughout Madison County as election officials rolled out a new system in the works for several years that included 30 centralized voting centers with about a dozen voting machines each and the replacement of the poll books with an electronic system.

Madison County Clerk Olivia Pratt, who was on the Republican primary ballot for a county commissioner seat, said the new system operated smoothly with only one voting center reporting a minor problem. Most returns also were reported by about 7:30 p.m., earlier than in past years.

"It has a lot to do with vote centers and satellite locations," she said. "Pretty much every location was able to shut down at 6 (p.m.) and count their numbers and deliver them to us early."

Longtime Alexandria election inspector Missy Giles said voters and poll workers seemed to be thrilled with the changes. The Alexandria voting center was able to eliminate the eight books voters used to sign and reduce sign-in staffing from about six down to two.

"This is just night-and-day compared to the 2020 election," she said. "It has been the whole time since we started early voting."

Voters also seemed to feel more at ease with the process and less concerned about issues such as voter fraud, Giles said.

"People are feeling more confident with the electronic poll book," she said.

Though electioneers typically mill about the entries to polling sites in the hopes of persuading voters to choose their candidates, the rain kept them away from most sites Tuesday. Giles, however, measured the distance from the door to the voting area and determined it met the 50-foot legal requirement, allowing some electioneers to stay dry right inside the doorway.

"I don't know that we'll be able to do that in the fall because there may be many more electioneers," she noted.

Candidates, including Kimberly Stigall, a Republican candidate for sheriff, also seemed pleased with the new system.

"I think the turnout's been actually pretty decent," she said. "I hear that a lot of the people have been visiting the satellite voting centers, and I've been pretty impressed by the turnout and how quick people are getting in and getting out and being able to cast their vote."

About 16.5% of registered voters turned in ballots in the primary.

At Elwood, Daniel Dennis said he arrived shortly before 6 a.m. in support of Madison County sheriff candidate John Beeman. Dennis was the only electioneer all day outside the Elwood voting center at the Municipal Building. When it rained, he put on a yellow raincoat and continued to greet voters.

"I got wet and dry, then wet and dry again," he said.

Fran Fulsom was assigned as mechanic to four voting centers in Elwood and Frankton. She said she was pleasantly surprised by how smooth the process was.

"It's been a long day, but it's been good. I might even do it again," she quipped. "With the voting centers having been open for 12 days, a lot of people have had the chance to get used to the new machines."

At the Florida Station Church of God voting center, election inspector Danny Hummel said he didn't expect a large number of voters because primaries in years that don't involve a presidential race usually are small. But he said there was a steady stream of voters all day.

"About the time you think no one's coming, three or four come in," he said.

Like the other election inspectors, Hummel said those voters who knew the county had gone to voting centers said they really like the concept, though some older voters were a little wary of the technology. One voter, he said, was concerned about privacy and did not like that information was being sent electronically to the county clerk.

"Everyone really likes the fact they can vote anywhere," Hummel said.

Follow Rebecca R. Bibbs on Twitter at @RebeccaB_THB, or call 765-640-4883.