Flu fears prompt changes at the voting booth

Voting may go a little faster Tuesday because electronic poll books will be used to check voters into the polls.

But the change voters may notice most, in some localities, will be voting on touch screens without actually touching them with their fingers. Chalk that change up to flu concerns.

In Lynchburg, voters will be asked to use plastic coffee stirrers to mark their votes on the screens, said Pat Bower, city registrar. After one use, the stirrers will be tossed into the trash.

In Madison Heights, voters in two precincts will have new polling places where they cast their votes, said Gary Beasley, Amherst County registrar.

The Wright Shop precinct, also called Precinct 101, has been moved to Scott Zion Baptist Church, 2579 Galts Mill Road, in Madison Heights.

The Lonco precinct, No. 402, has been moved to New Beginning Tabernacle, 1886 South Coolwell Road in Madison Heights, Beasley said.

Campbell County voters won’t be given any objects to use for touching the screens, but the surfaces will be wiped down constantly with sanitary wipes, said Karen Danos, registrar.

Nearly every polling place will provide hand sanitizer for people to use after voting, registrars said.

The electronic poll books are being used in the general election for the first time in Lynchburg-area localities. Most registrars gave them a trial run in last June’s primary elections.

The electronic books “will speed up voting a great deal. They speed up the check-in process,” Danos said.

Previously, printed lists of eligible voters have been used to verify that voters are eligible, and to record their participation in the election.

Tuesday, laptop computers will be used in place of those printed lists.