Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Warren County’s voting machines, like this one headed to Sugar Grove Township, have been tested and are buttoned up in the front hallway of Warren County Courthouse waiting for Election Day.

Pennsylvanians who would like to vote in the general election on Nov. 8, must be registered to vote by Monday, Oct. 24.

That includes those who have been U.S. citizens for at least 30 days, those who will turn 18 between the two dates, those who have lived in a new precinct for at least 30 days.

As of Tuesday afternoon, there were 26,424 registered voters in the county, according to Warren County Voter Registrar and Director of Elections Krystle Ransom. Of those, 14,924 are registered Republicans, 7,495 are registered Democrats, and the remainder are either unaffiliated or registered with another party. ‘No affiliation’ is the third-largest group, with 2,435 voters, Ransom said.

The numbers move around a little.

“I have had a lot of changes to Independent or no affiliation,” she said. Both of the major parties have lost those voters. “It’s been pretty even.”

Ransom and Sally Beckerink of the League of Women Voters have been to Warren County high schools with a Youth at the Booth program to encourage students to register and to try to get students interested in working at the polls.

Students who are at least 17 years old and interested in working on Election Day may contact Ransom at (814) 728-3406.

There is less need for last-minute poll workers than there has been for years.

Ransom said 31 prospective new poll workers contacted her after she put out a call in an August story in the Times Observer.

Those people have been assigned to precincts for November and a final training is scheduled for Oct. 29, Ransom said.

Having so many workers has allowed Ransom to place people in the precincts where the live – a desired, but often not practical, outcome.

“I’m overstaffing,” Ransom said. “The more people we get trained, the easier it will be to get them back.”

Ransom and County Solicitor Nathaniel Schmidt are checking to see if those workers can be appointed to serve out open terms or if they will simply be kept on the roster until they can be elected.

MAIL-INS

Ransom said she has sent mail-in ballots to everyone who applied for them and those ballots are starting to arrive in her office.

If there are any mail-in ballots that are not dated properly, the county is prepared to count them, but officials are keeping them separate from other mailed ballots.

“As of now, we can count the undated ballots,” Ransom said. Keeping them separate will make it easier to remove them if a court ruling means they may not be counted.

MACHINE TESTING

Ransom said the logic and accuracy tests have been conducted and successfully completed on all 79 of the county’s voting machines.

Those machines now line the front hall of the courthouse, each in a nylon bag – similar to a piece of luggage – with a security tie connecting the zipper pulls.

“Everything went off without a hitch,” Ransom said. “Everything is sealed and ready for Election Day.”

CLARENDON POLLING PLACE

There is one significant change among the county’s polling places.

The Clarendon Borough Precinct will be located at the Allegheny Valley Veterans Center instead of the fire hall.