Months of training for election; Praise dedication of clerks, precinct workers

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CANVASSING THE VOTE–Baraga County’s Board of County Canvassers met twice last week to certify results from the Primary Election on Aug. 7, 2018. Friday the board reviewed Matt Morgan write-in ballots from two precincts. The result was that one Morgan vote in each of the precincts was not counted. L-r, Canvassers Margo Jentoft and Lillian Perrow, Baraga Township Clerk Michelle Fish, canvassers Harold Ripple and John Drennan and Covington Township Clerk Amy Leaf.

by Barry Drue
A wave of state-mandated election computer and software changes created a months-long challenge for election personnel prior to last Tuesday’s primary election. When all was done Baraga County results came through perfectly. “Our township clerks and precinct workers did a great job,” Baraga County Clerk Wendy Goodreau said last Thursday. “There are so many moving parts with all the new equipment. The last few months we have been in training. Township clerks are Lisa Maranich in Arvon, Michelle Fish in Baraga, Amy Leaf, Covington, Brian Jentoft, L’Anse, and Linda Legacy in Spurr. “Everyone’s work came in perfect. The clerks and the precinct inspectors are amazing. They take their job very seriously,” Goodreau said. “They had a lot to learn.” The State of Michigan Bureau of Elections funded the new hardware and software for the precincts following national concern about election security in the 2016 Presidential election. The voting equipment must be stand-alone and cannot be connected to the internet or any network. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.