The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley Randolph County Clerk Brenda Wiseman demonstrates for County Commissioner Cris Siler one of the voting machines at the Randolph County Courthouse Friday. Democrat Ballot Commissioner Patricia Rossi, left, and Republican Ballot Commissioner Sandy Hogan were also on hand as the machines were tested in preparation for the upcoming elections.

The Inter-Mountain photo by Edgar Kelley
Randolph County Clerk Brenda Wiseman demonstrates for County Commissioner Cris Siler one of the voting machines at the Randolph County Courthouse Friday. Democrat Ballot Commissioner Patricia Rossi, left, and Republican Ballot Commissioner Sandy Hogan were also on hand as the machines were tested in preparation for the upcoming elections.

ELKINS — Voting machines were tested at the Randolph County Courthouse Friday in preparation for the upcoming early voting period and the May 10 primary elections.

Randolph County Clerk Brenda Wiseman oversaw a testing session as several individuals, including county commissioners Chris See and Cris Siler, took part in the event. Democrat Ballot Commissioner Patricia Rossi and Republican Ballot Commissioner Sandy Hogan were also on hand and joined in on the sample voting.

“We are required by West Virginia code to do a public test of the voting equipment before every election,” Wiseman told The Inter-Mountain Friday. “Every machine we have gets tested before it goes out, but we have to do a public test out in the lobby for the public.

“My staff was in the basement today testing all the other machines that we weren’t using for the public test.”

Randolph County currently has 96 voting machines it will use during the early voting and primary. Early voting is scheduled to get under way on Wednesday, and will run through Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

“We use the machines for the early voting first and then again on election day,” Wiseman said. “There are 27 precincts that they go to and some will have more than others depending on how many voters there are in the precinct.”

Early voting will be held at two locations in Randolph County, the Wees Annex on Randolph Avenue in Elkins, and at the Russell Memorial Public Library in Mill Creek.

“We always have a lot of people come out for early voting,” Wiseman said. “When we first started the one in Mill Creek it was kind of slow in the beginning, but during the last election it picked up and more people came out for it. The one in Elkins is always busy, though. I just think people like it because they can stop in and vote at their convenience instead of having to wait until election day.”

Wiseman said she and the other courthouse staffers that help prepare for the upcoming elections have been hard at work getting things ready for what is yet to come.

“We’ve been really busy for the last three months,” she said. “We just finished up with all of the redistricting, getting all of those cards sent out for that, and we have been mailing out absentee ballots, and getting the voting machines tested and ready.”