Liz Hill | Daily Press Unpacking the new voting machine are (left to right) Peggy Ruggles, Sandy LaBar, Cindy Jenerou and Kay Hinkson.

HIAWATHA TWP. — Poll workers from Hiawatha Township in Schoolcraft County started a crisp October morning with a lesson in how to unpack a new voting machine. Escanaba and Gladstone in Delta County and all of Schoolcraft County’s municipalities received the new voting machines because they have November elections.

Kurt Knowles of GBS Governmental Business Systems said the other communities will be given their new machines after the first of the year in time for the 2018 elections.

“The state gets new machines every 10-12 years,” County Clerk Beth Edwards said. The 11 machines for Schoolcraft County cost about $93,000 from federal and state funds.

In addition to learning how to operate the machines the dozen or so poll workers had to learn how to unpack the machines so they could repack them when the election was over.