BUTTE — Concerns about safe and secure elections have been circling on national, state, and local levels as some politicians push the idea that U.S. elections are not secure, but as the clock ticks down to Election Day, officials in charge of setting up a centralized polling site in Butte say not only will the election be safe and secure, but it will run smoothly, too.
"Before I used to just show up and vote, and now I get to see behind the scenes. What it really takes and how many people it really takes. It makes me feel really patriotic to be able to help out the country in this way," says Frank Juarez, event staff with the Butte Civic Center.
Juarez is one of a dozen event staff members who will be on hand to provide extra help behind the scenes including aiding those with mobility issues by offering rides to people parked farther away from the facility.
Working in a more visible role, Butte Police will also be on hand at the facility to assist with periodic walk-throughs to ensure the facility is safe and the process rolls along smoothly.
"We’ve got video surveillance throughout the building," says Bill Melvin, the general manager of the Butte Civic Center.
"We also have certain rooms that are for the election people only and they have fobs. Only certain people have the fobs and they are documented when they go in them. So yeah, it’s pretty secure. We also have asked for local law enforcement to have a presence here and just periodically come through and do some walk-throughs," adds Melvin.
Recently I spoke with Butte-Silver Bow County Clerk and Recorder Linda Sajor-Joyce about election security after a mistake led to a recount of the Primary Election ballots in August. She says her team will be taking extra measures to ensure the process is done correctly and those extra steps may add to delays in the release of results.
In the meantime, those working behind the scenes, from the election judges to the event staff, are prepared to work long hours to help Butte-Silver Bow County voters go through with their civic duty on Election Day.
"I really like this event cause it’s really important for us to vote and get out. So we try to make it easy for everybody to do their job. They work behind the scenes. You don’t see a lot of this stuff. It happens when you’re not here," says Juarez.
