General Election Voting Smooth

Story by
Richard Stephens, Jr.

Senior News & Living visited four precincts in Midwest City, Del City and Oklahoma City on November 5, election day, to check line waits and asked Precinct Inspectors, who are in charge, if they knew of any voting irregularities or threats to poll workers.
Lines? Shorter, between 5 to 30 minutes. Online or physical threats to poll workers? None. Misha Mohr, Public Information Officer of the Oklahoma State Election Board knew of no occurrences in Oklahoma.
Voting irregularities like voting machines not accepting or reading ballots or people not signing their mail-in ballots, etc.? This reporter did not see or hear of any machines malfunctioning. In an email, Ms. Mohr State explained law requires absentee ballots be processed during a public meeting of the bipartisan County Election Board. If any absentee ballots cannot be legally counted (voter did not sign, etc.), it must be rejected, not corrected.
Ginger Carnahan, Midwest City Precinct #550406 Inspector, said, “No poll watchers for this election in Oklahoma County.” I watched as she handled two “spoiled” (written incorrectly) ballots. She tore them in half and put them in a yellow bag labeled “406 Spoiled and Discarded ballots.” Also, Carnahan did not allow one young man to vote because he wasn’t on the voter listing. A poll worker gave him the Oklahoma Election Board’s phone number to register to vote.
Precinct 547 and 326 at the Sunnylane Family Church, Del City, didn’t have problems. Karumbar Lunsford, Precinct #574 Inspector, said “voting and everything is going smooth for a presidential election.”
Jack Clay, Precinct 102 Inspector at the Moore Norman Technology Center, did not have problems. He said, “The ballots and the machines go back to the County Election Board and they process everything there. And it’s a very secure system. Every one of my (poll) workers have done a super job and the people who have come to vote have been very cordial and friendly.”