Local News

Board certifies election equipment

October 12, 2022

894

129892647_web1_20221012dr-Election-Board — The Hancock County Election Board, made up of Republican county clerk Lisa Lofgreen, left, Democrat Bob Bogigian and Republican John Apple, conduct a test of county voting equipment Monday.

Mitchell Kirk | Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY – An issue with a vote-counting machine was resolved in time for a redo of a test on county election equipment.

The do-over followed an initial attempt to conduct the legally required public test of the county’s election machines last week. During that test, the Hancock County Election Board discovered that after feeding test ballots into one of the vote-counting machines, the machine produced a report that left out one of the candidates’ names in an election and listed another candidate’s name twice. The issue affected an uncontested race for Sugar Creek Township Advisory Board seats.

Election Systems & Software, the company that makes the county’s election equipment, determined the machine incorrectly interpreted the coding in the hardware inserted into the machine with candidates’ names. The election board recessed the meeting to give the company time to resolve the issue, and reconvened Monday morning.

During Monday’s test, the machine produced a report that reflected candidates’ names and test votes accurately.

That machine is the only one of its kind in the county’s inventory, and is used to count early-voting and mail-in ballots on election night. County election officials consider it integral to the vote-counting process because of its ability to process ballots at a high rate of speed.

The county also has several other vote-counting machines of a different model used to process ballots cast on Election Day, which are slower. Per state requirements, the county election board also tested one of those machines.

Four members of the public attended the test, and helped by joining board members in completing test ballots. The board then compared the machine’s results to the test ballots and found no issues.

Some of the ballots were deliberately completed incorrectly, including by marking bubbles next to candidates’ names improperly, to see how the equipment would respond. Election officials noted that voters casting ballots on Election Day do so directly into those machines, and that if there are any issues, the machine rejects the ballot so that the voter can correct them.

When voter errors, like bubbles not filled out completely, are discovered on election night from early ballots, bipartisan teams look over the ballot and work to reach a consensus on voter intent.

The election board and members of the public also tested a voting machine that complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is equipped with a touchscreen, headphones and the ability to be controlled with a sip-and-puff.

Hancock County’s election board is made up of three members – Republican John Apple, a Greenfield-based lawyer; Democrat Bob Bogigian, a retired lawyer; and Hancock County Clerk Lisa Lofgreen, a Republican.

“We certainly did everything we can possibly do to assure that the equipment’s correct, and the results are going to be correct, and I have full faith that they will be,” Apple said after Monday’s test.

Election integrity has been a hotly debated topic in the country ever since former President Donald Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged.

“This is an open, transparent, safe and accurate process,” Bogigian said. “There’s been a lot of lies about election integrity, and they are lies. This is a fair process.”

Early voting for the general election begins Oct. 12.

2022 general election early vote centers

Hancock County Annex, 111 American Legion Place, Greenfield

11 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays Oct. 12-Nov. 4