Early Voting Passes the 20% Mark of Registered County Voters With 5,386 In-Person and Another 1,000 by Mail-In

With the 2024 National Election, along with State and some local Municipal races just 12 days away, the Electoral Board of Warren County held its monthly meeting the morning of Thursday, October 24th. Present were Electoral Board Chairman Marilyn King, Board Secretary Lee Bowen (Vice-Chairman Daniel Arico was absent), County Voter Registrar Matt Reisinger, along with three members of the public, Warren Whittmann, Bob Hill, and Mark Nelson, who either posed questions or offered input on electoral process topics as the Public and Board Comments portions of the 10 a.m. meeting proceeded.

During Staff Reports near the meeting’s outset, County Voter Registrar Reisinger noted that Early Voting was continuing, and that, “As of this morning we had 5,386 early, in-person voters … we’ve been averaging in the 300s, so far per day this week. We’ve also received just over a thousand (Absentee Ballots) back. And as of yesterday with the combined by mail and in person, we crossed over 20-percent of registered voters in the county have cast ballots for this election.”

“Wow, that’s incredible,” Electoral Board Chairman King reacted to those numbers.

Over 5,386 voters had shown up by Thurs. morning to vote early at the 15th St. Health & Human Services Complex on the football field side of the property. Below, from right to left, Electoral Board Chair Marilyn King, Board Secretary Lee Bowen, and County Voter Registrar Matt Reisinger prepare for the final pre-election board meeting. Royal Examiner Photos Roger Bianchini

Reisinger also observed that the coming Friday, October 25, at 5 p.m. was the deadline for requesting those Absentee ballots allowing registered voters to cast their ballots by mail. Reisinger told the Electoral Board that the Post Office has been cooperative, making the regular morning/mid-day delivery, as well as a second later afternoon delivery to the Voter Registrar’s Office. “So, if they get any ballots throughout the course of the day, they are hand-carrying them over here to us in the afternoon.”

Responding to a question, Reisinger reported that with one being added the previous day, there had been only 17 same-day registration voters. The Registrar also noted that he has been in contact with both public and private-sector people and groups to facilitate a smooth Election Day run at the County’s various polling places.

During Public Comments, Warren Whitman pointed to the estimated 6,000 people statewide who had been purged from the voter rolls as improperly registered or disqualified as eligible to vote as a non-citizen by Governor Glenn Youngkin, and asked if anyone had been removed here. Reisinger replied that most removals done in Warren County in recent years have been normal adjustments for either the death of the voter, a move out of county or out of state, or where they marked “No” by mistake to the citizenship question on the Electoral Registration questionaire filed at the DMV.

“Non-citizen, I’d have to say probably over the last year, if any, I’d say maybe one or two,” Reisinger estimated of disqualified voters here.

During subsequent discussion, Electoral Board Chairman King expressed the opinion that the legal registering of voters should be moved out of the DMV, which she observed didn’t want to take on the responsibility, and placed in a more appropriate location, like a courthouse. “That DMV thing just gets me stirred up a little bit,” King observed of the existing process.

Responding to another citizen question from Whittmann regarding Election Day security, it was noted that as normal, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office would patrol the various polling places throughout the day, perhaps with a little additional manpower this year in what has been an unusually contentious Presidential Election campaign season.

The Electoral Board and Registrar listen to comment from out of frame public participant Mark Nelson, along with left to right, public participants Warren Whittmann and Bob Hill. Below, is Nelson addressing the board.

It was noted that an Election Canvass on Wednesday, November 6, the day after the election, beginning at 10:30 a.m. was sheduled to verify that all votes cast here, early, mailed, or in-person on Election Day at a County polling place, were legally cast votes. A State-overseen audit of the U.S. Senate and House races will be conducted later in November, Wednesday the 20th and Thursday the 21st, in which a randomly selected Congressional District will be selected to participate. Who will be involved will not be determined until Monday, November 18, Reisinger told the board, suggesting they keep those days open on their schedules just in case.

It was decided not to schedule Electoral Board meetings for December or January, making Thursday’s meeting the last of the year, other than the day after the Election canvass. Electoral Board meetings will recommence on Monday, February 3, and Monday, March 3.

The board’s final regular meeting of 2024 was adjourned at 10:29 a.m., October 4.