Thursday's Internet Edition, September 02, 2010.

Casto & Harris employees (from left) Rick Webb, Jerry Ellis, Fred Hardway, Fred Tolley and Todd Greathouse assemble precinct kit boxes for a special primary election August 28. The Spencer firm is handling supplies for all 55 counties for the special election to replace Sen. Robert C. Byrd. Photo by David Hedges

But after a special election was added at the last minute to fill the seat of Senator Robert C. Byrd, things got a whole lot busier.

“It kind of ruined the rest of our summer, but it’s what we do,” said John Denbigh, president of the company located on Market Street.

Just last week state lawmakers scheduled a primary election for Aug. 28 to narrow the field of candidates seeking to replace Byrd, who died June 28. That field includes three Democrats, seven Republicans and one candidate from the Mountain Party.

The general election will take place in conjunction with the election already set for November 2.

“We are normally gearing up for the general election at this time,” Denbigh said. “And now we’re trying to squeeze in a primary.”

With a staff of around 20, Casto & Harris is responsible for the ballots in all 55 counties for the special election.

That includes programming software for 35 counties, including Roane, who rely on the touch-screen systems, another 18 that use the optical scan ballots where voters color in a circle and two counties, Braxton and Wyoming, which still use traditional paper ballots.

There are also absentee ballots that have to be prepared, proofed and printed, and precinct kit boxes with all the forms and supplies, right down to a miniature American flag, that have to be readied for every precinct in the state.

Denbigh said all the purchasing for the general election was done last spring in preparation for the November election.

“Now we have to double all that,” he said.

All the supplies used at the polls are delivered turnkey, which means they are counted and separated by individual precinct.

“Probably the hardest part is getting all the programming done on time and getting the printing of the ballot done,” Denbigh said.

The candidate filing period for the special election ended Friday and Saturday the W.Va. Secretary of State’s office held a drawing to determine the ballot positions for each candidate.

That must be done before any of the ballots can be prepared.

Denbigh said the candidate drawing for the general election ballot is normally Aug. 24, more than two months before the election.

“That’s when we hit the ground running,” he said.

This ballot had to be done in less than a week, with the drawing Saturday and the deadline for county clerks to receive their absentee ballots less than a week later.

“I’ve never been in this situation in my 30-some years at Casto & Harris,” Denbigh said. “We’ve had special elections, but never with this compressed schedule.”

Wednesday of this week was the deadline for delivering the absentee ballots to the 55 county clerks’ offices, and Denbigh had a right to be proud of what his staff was able to accomplish.

“All the clerks will have their (absentee) ballots today,” he said Tuesday morning, “even though the deadline for delivery is tomorrow.

“It’s a little hectic around here, but we’ve got a great crew and we’re rising to the occasion,” Denbigh said. “We haven’t met any hurdles we haven’t been able to cross so far.”