BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- County Clerk Joe Watson reported to the Stoddard County Commission the April 4 election went smoothly and the new tabulating equipment worked well. Watson said precinct results began coming in as early as 7:24 p.m., following the closing of the polls at 7 p.m. Watson said the final precinct came in at 7:55 p.m., and the election results were completed by 8:08 p.m.
The election marked the first time new optical scanning equipment was used in the county. The equipment consists of a computer/scanner that counts the ballots as they are placed in the ballot box.
Watson told the commission the equipment was taken to the various precincts on Monday and set up for the election the next day.
"All the poll workers had to do was plug it up and turn it on," said Watson. He said there were no major problems anywhere in the county with the equipment.
Presiding Commissioner Greg Mathis asked Watson if the write-in votes had to be counted by hand.
"No," responded Watson. "The optical scanning system takes a picture of each ballot which includes the write-in names."
Watson said the optical scanner makes a tape of all the write-in votes which are then tabulated.
Mathis asked if the equipment tabulated the write-in votes, or if they had to be counted by poll workers.
Watson said the write-ins were tallied by the Resolution Board.
"We took our time with the write-ins," said Watson, who noted there were 105 write-in votes in Advance.
Mathis asked how long the paper ballots are kept by the clerk's office. Watson said his office is required to keep the paper ballots for 22 months.
The commission approved the purchase of Unisyn Voting Solutions equipment and software at a total cost of $102,271 last year.
"I want to thank the Stoddard County election workers for the great job they did with the new election equipment," said Watson. "I am extremely proud of each of them for their dedication to our election process. Often times we do not give these workers the credit they deserve for working long hours on election day to provide the voters of the county the opportunity to vote. We have an excellent group of workers, and I appreciate the service they provide the county."
Prescription Drug Monitoring
Stoddard County Health Center Director Debbie Pleimling told the commission she is getting a steady stream of information from St. Louis County on the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) adopted by the county. The program is being implemented in the St. Louis area and some counties outside the metroplex. Stoddard County was in on the first phase of the program which should be up and running soon.
Pleimling said she has looked at some of the information, but has not had time to monitor it closely. She said conference calls are held each Thursday.
Commissioner Steve Jordan asked what time the conference calls are held because he wanted to participate.
Pleimling said she believed the conference call started at 10:30 a.m., but she would check to make sure.
Mathis asked the commissioners if they had heard any feedback from residents.
"I haven't heard anything bad," stated Commissioner Carol Jarrell.
Mathis asked Pleimling to keep up with all information in terms of implementing the program and keep the commission informed.