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Clerk warns poll workers about weapons at school polling sites, outlines poll-watcher rules
Summary
During training April Trickey said some voters had carried firearms into school polling locations; she instructed workers to post signage, ask people to remove weapons before re-entry, call 911 if needed, and reviewed borough poll-watcher application rules.
At a training for precinct workers, April Trickey, the borough clerk, raised safety concerns about polling locations situated on school grounds and described steps election workers should take if someone brings a weapon into a school-based polling place. "There were voters that came into the polling location who was carrying a sidearm," Trickey said, recounting incidents that prompted discussions with school administrators.
She advised that when a facility (such as a school) allows animals they must be leashed and that signs reminding people firearms are not allowed on school grounds should be posted at the polling entrance. Trickey instructed workers to ask a person to remove a firearm if they enter the polling area and, if the person refuses to leave, to call 911 and report the situation from the polling location. The clerk framed safety as a priority in maintaining partnerships with school districts that permit polling in their facilities.
Trickey also reviewed borough rules for poll watchers: only a candidate on the ballot or a sponsoring group supporting or opposing a proposition may apply to assign poll watchers, and applications must be filed by the borough deadline (5 p.m. the Tuesday before the election). "Our borough code requires that only person who can assign poll watchers to a precinct is a candidate ... and they would have to submit that application to us by 5PM the Tuesday before the election," Trickey said.
Trickey noted the borough received no poll-watcher applications this year. She described the appropriate distance poll watchers may sit (close enough to hear a normal voice but not close enough to read the register) and urged workers to treat poll watchers as part of the process when they are present.
The training transcript does not record any incidents of on-site enforcement; Trickey recommended staff follow facility rules, post signage, and contact law enforcement if someone refuses to comply with school policy.
