The Kenton County Board of Elections unanimously approved the security and emergency plans for this year’s elections in two separate votes at their meeting Monday morning.
The security plan, Kenton County Board of Election Chair Gabe Summe said, includes measures like 24-hour surveillance of equipment as well as various protocols for carrying, sealing, monitoring and operating the equipment.
On the other hand, the emergency plan is reserved for catastrophic situations, such as fires, that might arise at polling stations. This plan includes what to do if a voting machine gets damaged during such an emergency and how to protect the voting logs therein.
As an example, Summe discussed a time when a voting machine was damaged when someone knocked it over.
“We had to quarantine the machine,” Summe said, “and we basically followed our emergency contingency protocols to take out the ballots… and re-scan them into the machine.”
The next regular meeting of the Kenton County Board of Elections is scheduled for Monday, March 4 at 8 a.m. at the Kenton County Government Center on Simon Kenton Way.