New procedures for the General Election on Nov. 5 could eliminate some of the problems encountered during the primary election on Sept. 10.
To ensure more timely reporting, election results will be transmitted electronically to the Elections Office via modem, eliminating the need for election judges to physically deliver results.
County officials also appealed to the public for help in recruiting additional judges to work the polls on General Election Day. Comprehensive training sessions are being conducted on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at the Elections Office on Twinbrook Parkway.
A LETTER SENT to more than 100 of the county’s top employers asking that they consider granting leave to any employee who is willing to work on Election Day as a polling-place judge. Several businesses have already agreed that they will offer incentives to employees to encourage them to volunteer their time on Election Day.
The County is offering its employees civil leave to work on Election Day, as well as compensation for their time. In the past, employees were required to use their own leave to work at a polling place on Election Day.
AS SOON AS ELECTION results become available, they will be accessible on the Montgomery County home page to anyone with Internet access. Montgomery County’s homepage can be found at www.co.mo.md.us, where an icon will provide a link directly to the Board of Elections returns page.
Citizens who do not have Internet access are invited to visit the Council Office Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, where election results will be displayed in the third floor hearing room as the votes are counted.
Montgomery County is one of four counties in the State of Maryland to use the new touch-screen voting machines in the 2002 elections. The state provided funding for software that enabled the system to provide information in Spanish, as well as English. The touch-screen machines will eventually be phased in across the state, replacing a variety of systems.