There appeared to be no issues earlier this month during a public test of voting machines that will be used during the Nov. 8 general election.
The public test, which was conducted Oct. 7 in the basement of the Hamilton County Government and Judicial Center, allowed more than a half-dozen members of the public to participate in the process. It also gave the Hamilton County Election Board and the county clerk’s office an opportunity to test voting machines to determine if there were any errors or corrections that needed to be addressed leading up to the general election.
Of the county’s 619 total voting machines, 31 machines were randomly selected to be tested, Hamilton County Elections Administrator Beth Sheller said. The test is required to be conducted under state law and confirms the integrity of the voting machines, Sheller said.
She said the public test also offers transparency, as well.
“We’ve never had a wrong vote on them,” she said. “Every election, we do this.”
Hamilton County works with an election vendor, MicroVote, that oversees the tabulation of votes on Election Day and provides training to the county, according to Sheller.
Ray Adler, chairman of the Hamilton County Election Board, said he has never seen any problems with the voting machines but noted the public test gives officials an opportunity to fix any issues that might come up ahead of Election Day.
“We’ve never had a bug, but if we program something wrong, we want to make sure we correct it before the election,” Adler said.
The voting machines are also certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, meaning they have gone through rigorous testing, according to Sheller.
An EAC-certified voting system has been tested by a federally accredited test laboratory and has successfully met the requirements of federal voting system standards and/or guidelines, according to its website. The EAC works with state and local election officials by providing training and other materials, the website said.
For more information on voting sites and times, visit hamiltoncounty.in.gov/219/Election-Office.
