Election Day is right around the corner, and Vermilion County Clerk Cathy Jenkins recently joined Laura Williams on 1490 WDAN’s Community Connection program. Jenkins says if you haven’t registered to vote yet, but would like to; fear not, as “Grace Period Voting” has begun.
AUDIO: You can come into my office, (and) you can still get registered. You just have to vote at the same time that you register. You can register online until October 23rd; and after that you have to come in and register in the office; and vote at the same time, through Election Day.
And the County Clerk’s office is at 201 North Vermilion, in the County Administration Building.
Chief Deputy Clerk Robyn Heffern was also on the program. She reminded everyone that you can participate in the Monday morning October 31st at 10 AM voter machine testing, right outside the clerk’s office in the Vermilion County Administration Building hallway.
AUDIO: That’s where our vendor, Liberty, comes in. And they test our machines, and the public is welcome to attend that. They can see how the machines work, and we can answer any questions that they have.
Jenkins says one thing her office has really tried to do is get out and speak to various high schools around the county. She cited Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin as an example. Jenkins says getting high school students interested in becoming election judges at polling places is a long term goal for getting young people involved. And as it turns out, the older and younger election judges usually get along just fine.
AUDIO: And as I go out on Election Day, and I do visit the polling places; we found that, to be very pleasantly surprised, the younger generation doesn’t seem to be intimidated by the technology. Consequently, that’s very comfortable for the veteran judges. The other veteran judges develop relationships with these kids, and we’ve had them return again time after time.
Students may become election judges at any time during an election year, as long as they turn 18 by the date of the general election. The County Clerk’s Office can be reached at 217-554-7700.
To hear Laura Williams’ entire interview with Cathy Jenkins and Robyn Heffern, please go to https://vermilioncountyfirst.com/the-community-connection/
