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County Clerk explains privacy issues in final Pinckneyville vote count

Perry County Clerk Josh Gross on Tuesday explained the procedures he will use in counting the last of the absentee ballots from the April 7 election.

"My office will be counting the late arriving absentee ballots that arrived after election day but were postmarked prior to election day at 10:00 am on Tuesday April 21st. This process will be conducted in the County Clerks office. The only people allowed in the room will be Tory Woods from my office and two election judges one from each party," he said.

"The reason it will be processed this way is simply to preserve the secrecy of the voters ballots. We will be counting a very small amount of ballots and if everyone knew the names of the voters it would be very easy to determine how those individuals voted," he continued.

"I will run through the process Tuesday morning for any in attendance so that it moves in a simple and orderly process. As always I am here for your convenience for any questions you may have prior to Tuesday. And I look forward to seeing some if not most of you next Tuesday," he told members of the media.

He continues on another note: The absentee vote counting process will be followed by a retabulation of the county's voting equipment which will follow at 11 a.m. That process is commonly called the vote canvas. It is a separate process used to certify the results of an election.