Before early voting got underway this year, officials were making plans to ensure that the Lake County Board of Elections (BOE) offices where outfitted to provide as safe an environment as possible. Having a presidential election during a pandemic was an unprecedented situation that required a host of additional factors to be considered.
Knowing that its community neighbor could use some help to prepare, Lakeland Community College President Dr. Morris Beverage Jr. reached out to Ross McDonald, director for the BOE, to offer college resources to assist with the creation of protective barriers.
“Our staff at Lakeland’s makerspace, known as HIVE, had just spent months making plexiglass partitions for classrooms and offices throughout campus,” said Beverage. “In just a short period of time, they became design experts and were able to fabricate the barriers on HIVE machinery and install…