There have admittedly been problems in past elections gathering votes. . Voting machine gremlins, vote gatherings led to delayed vote totals, anxious candidates, and media cries for results. After the dust has settled, one thing the Wayne County Board of Elections is known for is its accuracy.

The Times checked in with the Wayne County Board of Elections  this past week on their preparations for the upcoming election, which will tally votes for President, Federal, State offices, County offices and local town and village seats.

Mindy Robinson, one of the Election Commisioners, took time to answer some of the burning questions.

Was there a shortage this year for election inspectors?

“For 2024, we trained 316 Poll Workers and have 300 assigned for 37 Poll Sites. On average, that’s 8 Poll Workers per site. I think we are at a healthy number but would be elated to get about 350 trained and available.”

Like many news reports, has the Wayne County Board of Elections received any threats to office staff or election inspectors?

“The office hasn’t received any threats, no.  There have been a few interactions where our procedures and security were questioned with some anger and agitation. “

Are the machines up and ready for Early Voting, starting Saturday (10/26)?

“Pre-Lat testing was done on all voting machines, including our Early Voting Machines.”

Are you anticipating late results, being a Presidential year?

“ I am anticipating it is going to be a long night. I can tell you that we have 13 Wayne County Sheriff’s Deputies as our election night couriers. This is the most this office has had. With that being said, some sites might have to go past the 9 PM close, if there are voters still waiting in line to vote, and if you have just a few Poll Workers that might take a bit longer to gather all of their materials for the Sheriff’s Deputies, it can slow things down for other sites that are waiting for pickup.  It’s all a domino effect.”

How is everyone in the office handling the impending election? 

“The volume in this office is tremendous.  We have had staff in this office, 7 days a week, for over a month.  To give you an idea of the volume of work we are handling… From October 1, 2024 to October 23rd , Over 5,000 voter files have had “maintenance” done to them, meaning, an absentee application added, address updated, newly registered, purged, or added as a poll worker.  This is all done by staff.”

I know you are getting a lot of calls...What are the questions they are asking?  

“Calls were consisting of how to get an absentee ballot for about the past month. More recently, this has changed to voters making sure they’re registered, their address is correct, and inquiring about Early Voting locations and their Election Day Polling location.