Irwin County elections office shifts audit and testing schedule ahead of Nov. 5 election

Irwin County Election Supervisor Ethan Compton told the county Board of Elections & Registrations on Sept. 10 that staff have adjusted multiple pre-election procedures to comply with new statewide imaging and reporting requirements.

Compton said the county will postpone its Risk Limiting Audit until 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 18 to accommodate a newly required optical-character-recognition ballot-image audit. He also said that, if a proposed State Elections Board rule requiring precinct totals to be counted the day after the election is adopted, the county will reschedule its Ballot Scanning Ceremony for 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. "This is where we, to accommodate legal changes for higher definition ballot images for open records retention and to more easily facilitate hand-auditing, have elections office staff and poll managers count and sort ballots, one precinct at a time, into sub-batches of 50," Compton said.

The office will also move Logic and Accuracy testing to Sept. 30 through Oct. 2 to allow candidates to inspect ballot proofs before final approval, to account for delivery timeframes of the election project files, and to participate in a mandated statewide "dress rehearsal" of the election-night results reporting portal.

Compton said Irwin County’s existing sub-batching procedures were already adapted earlier in the year and "already comply with the new state elections board rules proposed," requiring only a date change to align fully with the proposed rule if it is passed.

On staffing, Compton told the board during public comment that the county has a sufficient reserve list of poll workers despite recent retirements and recommended six auditors per party to support a fast and accurate hand tally under the new audit guidelines. He thanked local volunteers for restoring the Irwinville Community Center so it can continue to serve as a polling place.

The changes are administrative preparations by county elections staff ahead of the Nov. 5 general election. The board recorded no formal vote on these schedule items at the Sept. 10 meeting; they were presented as new-business updates and staff plans. The board’s next regular meeting is set for Oct. 8.