The early voting in N.C. started on Oct. 17 and we are seeing record numbers of voters showing up and voting.
With misinformation about the voting process fogging the public’s perception of the voting process the Jackson County Board of Elections provided an insider look at how the Express Vote machines are set up in preparation for early voting. Jackson County uses the machines across the county and the paper ballot is available only if the voter requests it.
All Express Vote machines and DS200 tabulators are tested before being staged for transportation to the early voting locations.
Each precinct has a set number of voting machines that will be available for voters which ranges from three to six Express Voting machines and one DS200 tabulator for each location. For every voting machine and tabulator there is a flash drive with all the required information for that voting period.
The flash drives for the voting machines have the set ballots programed for each voting precinct. The DS-200 flash drives are programed to count the ballots cast and to accept a specific ballot based on the precinct it is assigned to.
Each precinct has a set of unique passcodes for election day that only a select few know to ensure no machines can be tampered with during the election process.
A set of blank paper ballots are cast and counted by the DS200 alongside an Express Vote marked ballot that do not have any votes marked on there, they are skipped through to mark and test the Express Vote marking ability. During the test of the voting machines, the accessibility features, such as visual and hearing aids, are tested to make sure they are fully operational.
Once the test is complete and the appropriate number of predicted ballots is counted all of the machines are emptied out and locked up.
The blue boxes inside the tabulators that catch the inserted ballots are emptied and double checked to ensure no test ballots are left in the machines. Once the machines are locked up they are not opened until the votes are counted.
Each orange tie that locks the tabulators and voting machines are logged by Board of Elections workers and checked in the morning to ensure no tampering has occurred overnight.
“When we guide voters to the ExpressVote machines we explain what we do. I always tell them that the machine is a ‘big pencil’ [term used by the NCBOE] because it has no way to be connected to the internet, and has no memory to keep an electronic record of the vote. Once the ballot is marked and printed that is the only evidence of their vote. When they take the ballot to put it in the Tabulator we tell them just where to put it and it can be put whichever way they want (face up or face down). This machine just records that a ballot was put in. That ballot then goes to the blue box in the lower part of the machine,” said an election worker and WCJ academic adviser, Katerina Spasovska.
This is the same process followed once the election has started where the Chief, Republican and Democratic judges seal and secure the tabulators at the closing of the polls and verify there was no tampering at the opening of the polls the next morning.
The tested and verified tabulators and voting machines are staged in the Board of Elections conference room where they will be packaged up in a red cage designated for each precinct. The process of transporting the voting machines is confidential to ensure the safety and integrity of the voting process.
During the process of preparing the machines, anyone can watch the process. The Jackson County GOP chairman, Keith Blaine, and the Jackson County Democratic Party Vice-chair, Carolyn Cagle, sat in and watched the process unfold.
Trey Franks, the election equipment and operations analyst at the Jackson County Board of Elections, explained the process to each of the party representatives so that transparency is maintained.
There are many safeguards to ensure the election process remains secure. Transparency is the key to elections and democracy. The local board of elections are more than willing to explain the process and give citizens an inside look of how things operate.
While interviewing and observing for this story, I was allowed to help with the testing process. After watching Franks and Austin Bradley, elections specialists, run a few tests for two precincts I jumped in and helped.
I was able to test the DS-200 by entering the test deck of ballots and sealing the tabulators and the Express Vote machines with their orange tabs. Being able to set up and secure the machines provided me with a unique opportunity to see the security of the system and the strict structure of setting up elections.
There are many safeguards in place to ensure there is no tampering with elections. For more information about the election process contact your local board of elections.
