By Nathaniel Smith, Editor
On Thursday, September 19th, a group of community members and local candidates gathered at the office of the Clerk of Courts to witness the public testing of voting machines that will be used to determine the outcome of the 2024 elections. For decades, voting machines have made elections all across the world easier and more efficient. However, voter confidence has been dwindling at a rapid pace as of late, and some have been skeptical in regard to the election process as a whole. This is all the more reason to hold public testings and reinstate confidence into the community.
Led by Clerk of Courts Stephanie Rockey, this public test demonstrated how to properly use the machines, as well as how the machines react to various situations such as submitting a blank ballot or putting marks for too many candidates. Stephanie Rockey also described the straight-party ticket process, and how it does not necessarily mean the voter is locked into only voting straight Democrat or Republican.
“Say for instance you go to vote straight-party Libertarian, but you go back and vote for somebody in the Republican Party or the Democrat Party in another office. That trumps the straight-party ticket,” said Rockey. “So, any other offices that you didn’t pick will go Libertarian, and the two that you chose differently will override that portion of the straight-party ticket.” She also reminded attendees that straight-party voting does not cover non-partisan offices such as school board positions.
As per usual, voters have the option to write in their candidate of choice. However, not just any name can be written and counted as a legitimate vote.
“We see it all the time on election night,” said Rockey. “We get Mickey Mouse, celebrities, actors and actresses, and we have to inspect each one of those. I’ll then look at my certified list to see if the name is on it. If it isn’t on the list, the ballot will then be marked invalid.”
After being asked why the government instructs their office to test certain machines, Rockey simply said they have a list of their inventory and choose which machines to test at random.
“They have our inventory, and they do a random selection. We have a certain percentage of it that we have to use, and they email me a list prior to each election of the inventory percentage that we are required to test,” Rockey stated. “It’s usually 1%, but we normally do 2%. We even have to tell them exactly where our equipment is kept. We have to prove that it is safe and secure. That started back in July of 2018.”
Each voting machine tested during the public testing worked as expected without error and is ready for November 5th. So, make your way to the polls with confidence, because ensuring that our election process is fair, free, and as secure as possible is paramount.