Twin Falls County is ready for election day

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) -Presidential elections are usually very chaotic for county clerks, poll workers, and even voters, and this year COVID-19 has added an extra layer to it.

Twin Falls County has more than 41,000 registered voters, and Kristina Glascock, who is the Twin Falls County Clerk, said all 21 polling stations in the county will be open on Election Day, but the polls might be a little slower than normal.

“As many as we have had with absentee(voting) and early(voting), it should be just a nice steady day,” Glascock said.

She said nearly 14,000 people requested absentee ballots this year, and as of last week, more than 8,000 were returned. Glascock also said since early voting started on October 13 more than 400 people a day have been coming to the polls to place their vote.

“I am a little bit surprised... I am happy that people are coming in and taking advantage of this to avoid crowds,” said Samuel Reeder, who is a poll worker at the Twin Falls County West Building in Twin Falls.

He said right now Twin Falls County is doing really good on poll workers, and all the polling locations should be fully staffed on Election Day.

“I know there was some concern for a little while, but recently it sounds like we got it filled out pretty well, and now there seems to be plenty,” Reeder said,

Glascock said the county runs about 250 poll workers around election time with a few substitutes, and this year with COVID-19 a lot of people have been coming forward offering to volunteer, even high school students.

“We have poll workers that have always been poll workers that said because of their health, ‘No I don’t want to do that(volunteer)’,” said Glascock. “Which is great. They let us know in advance that they didn’t want to work, and we had enough people stepping forward saying, ‘Hey, I’ll work’”.

Due to the COVID-19, she said the county is asking voters to please wear a mask. If they don’t have one, masks will be provided at the polling places, along with hand sanitizer and signs to maintain social distancing, to keep everyone safe and healthy.

To mitigate any potential spread of the virus, the county will also be providing each voter with “I Voted” pens.

“They will use this to sign the poll book, and they will also use the same pen to vote their ballot, and then they will be able to take this pen home,” said Glascock. “That way we are not transferring marking devices from voter to voter”.

She said Twin Falls County will also be offering curbside voting to voters who don’t feel comfortable coming inside to vote or feel like they might be sick and coming down with symptoms of COVID-19.

“Since the pandemic hit we have been thinking about how to conduct elections, and what we can do differently or better,” Glascock said.

The Twin Falls County Clerk wants to remind voters that the last day for Early Voting is October 30 at the County West Building, and anyone who missed the deadline to register to vote can do it during Early Voting or on Election Day at the polling place.

Glascock said the polls open on Election Day at 8 am and close at 8 pm, and all absentee ballots must be in the Twin Falls County Clerk’s office by 8 pm on Election Day November 3. Absentee ballots can be mailed or dropped off at any of three secured boxes at the County West Building on the 1st floor.

Anyone with questions or wants to see a sample ballot or polling location can visit the Twin Falls County clerk’s page.

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