Tulsa County Election Board Implements New Safety Measures For Mail Handling

Tulsa County Election Board employees now wear protective clothing to open the mail, to protect themselves from anything dangerous.

Employees have long worn gloves to handle mail, but Tommy Neal, the Security Director for the board said now they now wear face shields, masks and aprons.

The mail is steadily increasing as absentee ballots, and requests for absentee ballots, come in.

One employee sorts and stacks it, without opening the ballots, and another watches in case something happens.

The observer has Narcan to counter possible drug exposure.

“The Narcan is in case there's something like fentanyl in one of the envelopes, and if one of our employees goes out, hopefully we can revive them immediately,’ said Neal.

The top priority for the election board is security of the vote, but they also must protect employees, so the County has installed panic buttons, and glass partitions to separate employees from the public for most interactions. The Tulsa County Election Board will move to a new building early next year, and Neal expects it will be easier to secure.

“The only thing we've known that was mailed to anybody was just flour sent to the state election board. We've not received anything that is threatening but we take every precaution,” said Neal.