Alabama’s Primary Elections are right around the corner and Tuscaloosa is working to make your voting experience as quick and easy as possible.
Tuscaloosa County Probate Judge Rob Robertson and other elected officials in Tuscaloosa are getting ready for high voter turnout on Super Tuesday across Tuscaloosa County.
“We have 54 locations that will run on election day,” Robertson said. “Some of them are rather small and rural and some of them are larger ones like (Church of the) Highlands or the Bobby Miller Center south of town.”
The Bobby Miller Center requires much attention from poll workers and elected officials due to the high volume of voters zoned for that location.
“We have the largest box in the state of Alabama down at the Bobby Miller Center,” Robertson said. “We have over 10,000 registered voters that vote down there at one particular polling place.”
Although poll workers are doing their best throughout Super Tuesday, voters may experience long lines during certain times of the day especially at bigger voting locations. Casting a ballot isn’t what takes time, the check-in voting process must be done properly and accurately by poll workers in order to receive a ballot.
“You’re gonna have a long line when they open up but through the voting day, you should not have much of a line,” Robertson said.”Last presidential cycle, lines were longer than I’d like to see them. We added some additional check in hardware; your bottleneck is getting people checked in to vote. The actual voting process itself, is much quicker, but getting everyone checked in can be the bottleneck. I think you’ll see that after things get opened up, the lines should be much shorter.”
Absentee voting is available for those who sign up. Special provisions are in place for those who can’t make it to the poll on election day including active military.
“The ability to vote in your local elections is provided through our all branches of our military service,” Robertson said. “UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) has special rules and they have the ability to get the ballot and turn their ballot in and be counted in their local election wherever they’re from across the nation.”
With up to 10,000 registered voters rolling through one station, there must be enough poll workers to properly run the poll and check to make sure everything runs smoothly.
“Of course with adequate check-in procedures we run approximately eight (polling workers) or more sometimes checking stations to manage that kind of polling place,” Robertson said.
With 54 locations, and some demanding at least eight poll workers, hundreds of poll workers are needed in Tuscaloosa County alone. There has been less and less turnout of these workers over the years causing some discomfort to those who supervise and set up these elections.
“We always can use more poll workers,” Robertson said. “It’s just a long day of people doing their civic duty. There’s a little pay involved but we usually have a lot of dedicated poll workers that continue to serve.”
Programs are set up to encourage different groups of residents to sign up and work the polls. The Student Poll Worker Internship is a way to get young people familiar with the voting process and with the polls before they are eligible to vote.
“I think that’s a really great program that we’d like to grow,” Robertson said. “That usually comes to our high schools, and has recommended students, that get an excused day and then they get to help the polls. They can’t handle the ballots, but they can help expedite lines and be of assistance as they get to learn that day at the polls.”
Veterans help at the polls are also being sought out by the government to get them involved and serving their communities.
“There’s a push this year to encourage our veterans to consider serving as poll workers,” Robertson said. “Our Secretary of State (Wes Allen) is encouraging and challenging veterans to offer their services on election day and help us out.”
These poll workers are tasked with many things, from checking IDs and handing out ballots but most importantly, keeping voter integrity and eliminating fraud.
“In our county, I have every confidence as far as in-person voting,” Robertson said. “We do have fairly strict requirements on the absentee voting; but I really do like the system we use here in Alabama. I know in this county, that you get out and vote, your vote is going to be counted. I have the utmost confidence in what we have on Election Day and the summaries that we come up with.”
Thanks to poll workers and elected officials like Robertson, Tuscaloosa is working hard to make sure your vote counts and is efficiently cast.
Robertson and other elected officials are asking you to not only vote for your preferred presidential candidate but also to vote in all local elections down the entire ballot.
“We encourage everybody please take the time to vote; it does make a difference,” Robertson said. “Your vote will be counted.”
Remember to vote in Alabama’s Primary Elections on Super Tuesday, March 5 at your correct voting location. You can find your voting location and register for an absentee ballot at the Tuscaloosa County website. If you’re outside Tuscaloosa County, you can do the same at alabamavotes.gov.