On July 20th, as
a part of this process, two League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area
members, Leah Pigatti and Carolynne White, observed the Hubbard County
auditor’s staff conducting the PAT for the upcoming primary
elections.
The staff tested the voting machines that will be used to
count mail-in and absentee ballots including the DS200 which allows
citizens to cast an early vote in person starting July 24th just like on
election day. The test was conducted by three people, including a
veteran head election judge and a team member with roughly 40 years of
election experience.
Below are the official procedures as written by the Secretary of State’s office:
Below are the official procedures as written by the Secretary of State’s office:
- Election officials create a spreadsheet for each precinct indicating how they will mark a set of test ballots (a "test deck"). This allocates a specific number of votes to each race and accounts for various scenarios that may occur during an election, such as over-votes (voting for more candidates than allowed) and blank ballots.
- At the public accuracy test, election officials first run a “zero tape” on the tabulator. This proves that the starting vote total is zero for all contests and issues on the ballot.
- Election officials compare the list of contests and issues on the “zero tape” with those on the actual ballots.
- Once an official confirms that the contests appearing on the “zero tape” match the ballot, they begin running the test deck through the tabulator. The official documents exactly how the machine responds to the various test scenarios.
- After all test ballots have been placed into the tabulator, the official ensures the tabulator has read the ballots and compiled the results accurately by comparing the results tape to the initial test deck spreadsheet.
- Before the test concludes, the test spreadsheet, test ballots, certification paperwork, and zero/results tapes from the preliminary and public accuracy testing are sealed in an envelope, and a form must be signed by the participating election officials.
After the test, we had time to ask several questions about the security of our voting process. For example, the results of this test vote are transmitted to the Secretary of State’s office exactly as they would be on election night. The totals are saved to a computer stick and inserted into a dedicated election computer, which encrypts the results before sending them to the Secretary of State's office. This uses a completely closed, secure system that is not connected to the public internet. From what we saw and heard, it is hard to believe that any vote totals could be manipulated or interfered with from the moment a vote is marked by a citizen until it reaches the state system.
The League of Women Voters Park Rapids Area encourages anyone with questions about our voting system to talk with our county auditor’s office. They have the experience and training to answer any question. We invite you to head out and vote in the Primary election—which ends on August 11th—with absolute confidence!
