New office gives Bannock County elections much needed space

The Bannock County elections office will be counting its ballots in a new building this November. The office only moved a building over, but the small move makes a big difference for the office.

The elections office moved from its location on the first floor of the Bannock County courthouse to the former public defenders office about three weeks ago. With a lot more space, Robert Poleki, the Bannock County clerk, said it’s easier for the office to be more centralized.

“We have all of our equipment here,” he said. “We don’t have to run to another office to count ballots then bring results back to another office. Everything is here.”

Before moving to its new location, many of the elections office’s equipment had to be stored in different parts of the courthouse. Some equipment was even stored in a building five miles away, according to Poleki.

Another plus to having a bigger space — there is more space for voting booths in the office. Before, only 10 to 11 people could vote at a time. In the new office, 30 people can come in to vote at once.

“On our last day of the general election in 2012 we saw over 1,000 people voting in one day,” Poleki said. “We can accommodate people now. You don’t have to stand in long lines.”

Now that people can just walk in the office’s doors instead of having to go through courthouse security first helps, too.

Early walk-in voting for the Novemeber presidential general election begins Monday, Sept. 26. It goes on until Nov. 4 at 5 p.m.