DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Election day is less than a week away. Counties across the state are gearing up for the midterms – including Davis County officials and election workers.
Bountiful poll worker Lori Dalley has been hard at work for nearly a decade, a fact that she feels proud of.
“It’s a civic duty – I feel like it’s something that helps to get involved in your community and elections are important,” she said. “Its good to know that people are getting involved in the elections because everyone should be. It’s our responsibility to vote."
According to the Chief deputy clerk-auditor for David County Brian McKenzie, Davis County hosted training sessions on Wednesday for people who want to be election workers to understand their roles and responsibilities.
“Poll workers are the backbone of everything that we do during elections,” he said. “As an administrator, I can plan, I can direct, but those poll workers, are the real lifters of the load."
"They are the ones that front and center that are engaging with the citizens that are making sure that elections work and work well," he said.
With their help, the election has been running smoothly, with a little over 50,000 ballots having been returned so far. He anticipates the remaining expected will continue to come in every day from here on out.
McKenzie added that election security and integrity are top of mind. So officials have been making updates to the process so people know their vote is safe.
“The legislature passed a law last year that requires 24-7 video surveillance on all of our ballot drop boxes. We have those in place even in our county as well to just add that extra layer of security”
A new feature that rolled out during the primaries was a website that McKenzie says is becoming popular, where people can track the progress of their ballot – be notified when their ballot is on the way when it’s returned to their county clerk, and be notified when that ballot has been counted.
Lori says in all her experience as a poll worker, she hasn’t had any problems or concerns. And is grateful for the opportunity to do this.
“It’s not hard, they train you well, and you get to meet lots of people and I feel like it’s a good way to serve your community and help elections because it’s important.”
If you are mailing your ballot in, make sure it’s postmarked on or before November 7 – the day before the election, but officials recommend sending them in by this Friday. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can still do so in person on election day.
