Bayside Readies Itself for Primary Election

Readying for the Feb. 15 primary, Bayside tested its voting machines Monday at Village Hall, a routine conducted before each election to make sure everything is working properly.

Lynn Galyardt, director of finance and administration and clerk/treasurer, and administrative assistant Kayla Chadwick spent an hour and a half inserting dozens of test ballots into the machines, making sure all would go as planned.

It did.

“It’s a reliable system,” Galyardt said. “We got the Optech Insight tabulation machines back in 2006.”

The Optech Insight machine is an electronic ballot counting device that reads completed ballots by scanning for the voters’ marks indicating their preferences.

“This is what we refer to as a public test,” Galyardt said. In the past during some equipment tests, polling place volunteers observed the process and took advantage of the opportunity to ask questions, she said. There were no volunteers present for Monday’s testing.

Most Bayside residents will be voting in a five-way race for Milwaukee County executive as well as for finalists for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

A few voters will only cast ballots for the Supreme Court race.

“There is a small portion of Bayside which is in Ozaukee County,” said Mary Sampont, an office assistant with the Office of Ozaukee County Clerk’s office.

The Milwaukee County executive race is between Chris Abele, Ieshuh Griffin, Lee Holloway, Jeff Stone and Jim Sullivan. 

The Supreme Court ballot includes Joanne Kloppenburg, Joel Winnig, David T. Prosser, Jr (Incumbent) and Marla Stephens. 

The top two vote-getters in each race will advance to the April 5 general election.