Starke County Clerk Vicki Cooley is preparing for a high voter turnout on Election Day, and she says they have good reason to think so.
Starke County reported 35-percent voter turnout for the primary in May of this year. That followed 2015’s primary where Starke County was the top performer in the state for voter turnout. Apart from the intensity of the presidential and congressional races, Cooley says there are other reasons residents may prefer voting in the general election.
“There are a lot of people that do not like to vote in a primary.,” says Cooley. “They don’t want to declare their party so they do come out more in the general election, usually.”
The Starke County Clerk’s office has been working for some time to prepare their offices for November 8th by processing voter registration – the deadline for which is in October – and cleaning up walking lists.
For November, Cooley says they plan to make the walking lists more efficient by alphabetizing them as opposed to listing residents by address.
Residents may also start preparing for Election Day in October. The clerk’s office offers practice voting services for individuals that may not have cast a ballot in many years, or are first time voters. Cooley says a date has not yet been set.
“It’s basically set up for the public to come in and see how to vote and see how it all works and to make sure that everything is set up correctly,” says Cooley.
Right now, the party chairs are likely working to organize and begin training pollworkers for Election Day. Cooley says their offices will also have a practice run prior to the start of ballot casting.
