Election was positive experience for most Pope County voters
News | Published on November 14, 2022 at 11:22am CST
By Tim Douglass
Voters in Pope County had a positive experience in the 2022 general election whether they voted in person early at the Pope County Courthouse, voted absentee by mail or voted in-person at the polls.
Pope County Auditor-Treasurer Stephanie Rust gave credit to her staff and “all the election judges for again ensuring an orderly and fair election.
“This election could not have been possible or have gone as smoothly as it did without the many election judges that serve throughout Pope County. Elections require a lot of hard work, time and commitment of not only the staff in the Auditor/Treasurer’s office, but also all of the folks who step up to serve as election judges in this county,” Rust said last Thursday. “The Auditor/Treasurer’s office would like to send a sincere thank you out to all election judges who helped make this election run smoothly – your hard work is very much appreciated.”
She added that if anyone is interested in becoming an election judge in the future, contact the Auditor/Treasurer’s office at 320-634-7706 or contact your city or township clerk.
In Glenwood, where the polls for the city’s two precincts are located at city hall, election day went smoothly, according to Brenda Sargent, who oversees the election for the city. She said there were two “challengers” who spent much of the day at the polling place but added “I’m confident they left our polling place secure in the knowledge that the election process followed protocol,” Sargent said. “I always encourage anyone who has any doubts about the process to volunteer as an election judge to witness firsthand how secure and safe Minnesota elections are.”
Sargent said there was a line out the door of city hall when polls opened at 7 a.m. and the line of voters was “steady all day.” She said the slate of election judges in Glenwood is a “very cohesive, competent group and they are the reason it went well… and they were still smiling after a 16-hour day.” “Kudos belong to the election judges and the Pope County Auditor/Treasurer office,” she added.
About 71% of Pope County registered voters cast ballots
In Pope County and throughout Minnesota, voters in the 2022 elections again had the choice of voting early by mail or early in person or in-person at the polls. In last week’s election, there were 7,524 registered voters as of 7 p.m. on election day and another 329 who registered on election day. According to a voting summary of Pope County totals provided by Auditor/Treasurer’s office, 5,692 or 71.9% of those registered in Pope County voted in the election.
About 40.4 percent (2,301 ballots) of Pope County residents who voted in last week’s election, voted early (absentee) by mail, according to information provided by Rust and the Auditor/Treasurer’s office. The rest voted in person at their designated polling place.
Mail-in ballots have been part of the process for many Pope County precincts.
City precincts that are now mail-ballot precincts include Cyrus, Farwell, Sedan Westport and new in 2022 are Long Beach and Westport City. Townships that are mail-in precincts are Bangor, Barsness, Ben Wade, Chippewa Falls, Gilchrist, Hoff, Lake Johanna, Langhei, New Prairie and White Bear Lake. Mail balloting is a decision that is made at the city or township level, according to Rust.
The Pope County Auditor/Treasurer staff and election judges administer the processes involved with the election according to Minnesota law, she said. This voting process is different depending on if the precinct votes by mail or in-person. In precincts that vote by mail, every registered voter is mailed a ballot prior to the election. These ballots are tracked within the Statewide Voter Registration System. Voters are able to vote on their ballot from home or vote in-person at the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office, but they do need to sign and have a witness complete the signature envelope included in their ballot packet, Rust explained. While voting in-person at the Auditor/Treasurer’s Office, a voter in a mail ballot precinct will receive the same ballot and materials that they would have received in the mail. When the Auditor/Treasurer staff or election judges act as the voter’s witness, the voter still must utilize the process of the envelope system that is required of mail ballot precincts, Rust added.
Glenwood, area postal workers
go above and beyond
Those who rely on the mail for voting had little to worry about in Pope County. The Glenwood Post Office went above and beyond when it came to getting mailed ballots to the Auditor/Treasurer’s office.
According to Ray Gylsen, a Sales Service Associate (or as he says, a clerk) at the Glenwood Post Office, a number of ballots came in on Monday afternoon and even on election day and “we were able to get them to the (Pope County Auditor-Treasurers office) in time because we believe that every vote counts,” he said.
He said there weren’t “a large number of ballots” that arrived on the day before or the day of the election, but every ballot that came in on Monday and Tuesday was delivered in time to be counted. As an example of going above and beyond, an area postmaster who was done early on Monday even drove a ballot all the way to Walker, Minn. to make sure that mailed ballot was where it needed to be before the election, Gylsen explained.
He talked about other area postal workers driving from St. Cloud to deliver ballots to Glenwood on time and mentioned that “for the first time I remember” an area postal clerk visited all the post offices in the area on Sunday and picked up all the ballots to make sure they were delivered on time.
“I am really proud of the job we did and proud of our cooperation with Stephanie Rust and the Auditor-Treasurer’s office, who we stayed in touch with and that allowed us to get her the ballots in time to be counted,” Gylsen explained.
