Kim Chasteen and Barbara Krouse go over a checklist for a voting machine as John Hill looks on to answer any questions.
Janice Tolbert and Taz Kim go over a checklist for the voting machine to make sure everything is working correctly.
Leta Councill and Mary Irish go over a voting machine as Watauga County Director of Elections Matt Snyder looks on.
Kim Chasteen and Barbara Krouse go over a checklist for a voting machine as John Hill looks on to answer any questions.
WATAUGA — The Watauga County Board of Elections conducted bipartisan tests on voting machines that will be used during the General Election.
Specifically, a bipartisan team tested ballot tabulators, election coding, memory storage devices, backup batteries and ballot printing on Thursday, Sept. 15. The tests occur before every election in all 100 counties. The teams were made up of Republicans and Democrats from Watauga County. Director of Elections Matt Snyder and Board of Elections Program Assistant John Hill were also on hand during the testing.
Snyder said they tested election coding to ensure all the definitions for the elections were correct; tested the ballots to make sure they were printed with the correct marks; tested data storage devices to make sure they were reading and storing data correctly; and checked the equipment to ensure it worked properly.
“We do all this by running a pre-marked test deck of ballots through every machine,” Snyder said. “We know what the outcome is to expect and then we check that versus what the results tape is to see if there are any issues with that. We’ll then take that data and use that in what we call the mock election at the state level, which is the same as election night. We’ll start uploading data to through our system into the state system, checking numbers along the way to make sure there’s no discrepancies and everything is accurate.”
Janice Tolbert and Taz Kim go over a checklist for the voting machine to make sure everything is working correctly.
The bipartisan group sealed cards into the machine with a unique seal that the BOE identifies and documents. A paper trail is created to show what card and seal should be in the machine so on Election Day, they can check again to make sure nothing has been tampered with.
The six community members who participated are also election officials, Snyder said.
“It’s a great way for them to get comfortable with the equipment and learn some of the things they don’t normally encounter,” Snyder said. “On a smooth day, everything works great. This gives them a little bit more knowledge about how some of the other functions (work). It’s good hands-on (practice) for them to get a little more familiarity with the machines because, normally, they would just turn them on.”
Snyder said that he and the rest of the board take election integrity and security very seriously.
“We want to make sure that on election day, people just come in and vote and have no problems,” Snyder said. “That’s why we go through all this extra process of making sure everything works because we’re going to have an election and it’s going to be on Nov. 8, and we have to be ready for all contingencies.”
Snyder said one new piece for this election is that if a voter puts in a blank ballot, it will alert the voter that no marks were found. In the past, the machine just accepted it.
It is legal to vote a blank ballot, but Snyder said they just want to make sure the voter is aware that no marks on the ballot were found in case it was an accident.
If it was a mistake and the voter wants to fix that, the ballot will be spoiled and the site manager or chief judge will be notified and the voter will get a new ballot. An election official will then write “spoiled” on the old ballot and will keep it in a bag and log it.
Leta Councill and Mary Irish go over a voting machine as Watauga County Director of Elections Matt Snyder looks on.
The machine will also alert the voter if the ballot is partially filled out and some are left blank to make sure the voter meant to do that, which has been the case in past elections. It would go through the same process if it was a mistake.
“We want to encourage all folks to get a new ballot if they have made an erroneous mark on there because we want to make sure if they want to vote for their candidates, that it’s easy for them to correct a mistake,” Snyder said.
The officials in the precincts during voters are also local, Snyder said.
“We’re really grateful for the folks that help us out in the community,” Snyder said. “They’re your friends and neighbors. They’re the people that watch your kids or take care of your dog when you’re out of town. They are people you can trust. I know there’s been a lot of misinformation about election integrity around the country, but these are folks you know. We’re happy to have them be part of this. They’re the ones that bring the integrity to our elections in addition to our board and staff.”
Early voting starts on Oct. 20. More information about the election can be found at wataugacounty.org/App_Pages/Dept/BOE/personnel.aspx.
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