LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The November elections are a little over a month away and local workers are working to protect the integrity of the elections.
Since last week, hundreds of people have been training to make sure your vote is not just counted but also protected.
"I did my training last week. We train every time that there is an election," said Jefferson County Election Officer Sharon Schoenbaechler. "It's mandatory training by law. And so I did mine last week for the election coming up in November."
Schoenbaechler recently retired and is one of several hundred Jefferson County Election Officers.
"I retired from working with the Department of the Army," Schoenbaechler said. "Worked with them for 30 years and I retired in February and I wanted to spend my time doing worthwhile things and this was important to me."
Schoenbaechler admits there has been some negative feedback.
"I had some negative replies when I told him I was going through training and I just want people to understand that what the whole process is and understand it and not have fake information about it," Schoenbaechler said.
Ashley Tinius is director of communications for the Jefferson County Clerk's Office and says they've trained hundreds of election officers but need more.
"We have 208 polling places and 627 precincts and all of those are considered bipartisan, so we want to make sure that there are Democrats and Republicans at both," Tinius said. "So that means we've got to train a ton of election officers."
"I was just so saddened that people were losing so much faith in our government, it really bothered me a lot," Schoenbaechler said.
Meanwhile, despite the climate, Schoenbaechler is not deterred but determined.
"I just want people to have more faith in the government and I think that the people, the people I work with, I know, have integrity and they're doing the right things," Schoenbaechler said.
If you would like to volunteer to be an election officer, the last class is on Oct. 21. For more information, click here.
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