As part of a directive handed down from the Secretary of State, the Board of Elections is making strides to ensure the safety of its physical building and the information within.

Monday afternoon, members of the Board of Elections met with the Muskingum County Commissioners to discuss different steps that need to be taken in order to comply with the newly announced safety directive.

While the Board of Elections has many safety precautions already in place, there are new measures that need implemented including additional cyber security.

“We have a lot of things already in place, so we have a hookup for a generator if the power goes out. We have security measures … in our building to protect the building itself,” Timothy Thompson, Director of the Muskingum County Board of Elections, said. “We also have internet security measures in place that will protect voters’ information, and on election day there shouldn’t be concerns about what would happen to voters’ ballots because they’re all paper ballots and we can always count those without having any machines at all.”

With the Board of Elections working on several sections of the directive, all safety precautions must be in place by the Jan. 31 deadline.

On Aug. 3, members of the Board of Elections are meeting with representatives from the Department of Homeland Security to walk the representatives through the physical building and assess any additional safety elements.

“The Department of Homeland Security has labeled the board of elections a critical infrastructure, so they’re directing much of what we have to do so that we are maintaining a secure environment for the voting process,” Thompson said. 

One portion of the directive is having one or more alternative locations where the Board of Elections could move their operations during an emergency, although Thompson said a bulk of the safety initiatives are cyber related, which he was not at liberty to elaborate on.

All safety initiatives being implemented are in an effort to be prepared for emergencies.

“We don’t anticipate any (emergencies) but it’s always best to have a plan,” Thompson said.

Keeping upcoming dates pertaining to the Board of Elections in mind, Oct. 7 is the deadline for voter registration, as well as the deadline for candidates and issues to be filed.