Local boards of election officials say people, not equipment, are key to accurate vote

Election equipment preferences are different in Sandusky and Ottawa counties, but officials in both locations believe the people working for the Board of Elections are the most important part of the equation for a safe, secure and accurate vote.

"One of the things I will say about Sandusky County is that we have always had paper ballots. We like paper ballots. We're a smaller county. We can process them and we are always turning them into the state in very good time. The thing we like about paper ballots is there's always a stack of ballots, there's always a list," Ben Decker, Sandusky County Board of Elections member, said.

"You have to realize, this is a rural county. Many people don't have access to computers and technology," Sandusky County Board of Elections Director Sharie Chagnon said.

Ottawa County approaches the process of voting from a different perspective.

Ottawa County Board of Elections Director Carol Ann Hill said they have enough of the voting machines for the number of people who want to use them. The county has approximately 30,000 registered voters in 36 precincts.

Both tabletop and kiosk type units used

Hill, who has been on the job since 2008, explained the marking device hybrid system used in Ottawa County. They use both tabletop and kiosk type ExpressVote units, which are strictly used for ballot marking, but not used as a tabulator.

The county uses ballot marking devices for all voters, which are tabulated with optical scanning into a commercial electronic poll book. The system manufacturer is Election Systems & Software. The mailed ballots are put into a batch-fed optical scanner.

"We use Election Systems & Software ExpressVote machines. It is a touchscreen option that allows the voter to actually create their own paper ballot and then the voter actually scans it into an Election Systems & Software DS200, which is the actual tabulating equipment," Hill said. "About 60% of our voters embrace the touch screen option, where they create their own paper ballot, and about 40% of our voters create their own paper ballot, with the color-the-bubble, as you call it."

With these general descriptions, Sandusky County seems very similar to Ottawa County.

Chagnon gave a deeper description of the equipment and methods they use.

With approximately 40,000 registered voters in 58 precincts, Sandusky County is larger than Ottawa County. They use hand marked paper ballots and ballot marking devices, with optical scanning into poll books, also from manufacturer Election Systems & Software. Like Ottawa County, Sandusky County uses a batch-fed optical scanner for mailed ballots.

Sandusky County approaches the voting process from the opposite direction, using the paper ballots for most voters. There is also a ballot marking device at each location, as required for individuals who might be disabled, but the unit is available for use by anyone.

"There is (a ballot marking device) available at every (polling) location on election day, as well as our office, for folks with disabilities that need to use one of the machines. However, people without disabilities choose to vote on them periodically," Chagnon said. "They aren't used a lot, but they are available, so the majority are paper ballots."

Sandusky County then has the voter put the ballot through an Election Systems & Software DS200 when they are done voting. If any strange result happens, the voter can make the correction themselves, for an accurate count.

Securing the ballot privacy

The biggest modern change in equipment came after the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which required polling places to provide a means for voters with disabilities to securely participate. By 2016 the resulting technologies began to be adopted more broadly by boards of elections, with many utilizing barcodes or QR codes for privacy.

"There is barcoding at the top, when the voter gets what is called an activation card, that particular barcoding only determines which ballot they are going to get to vote. Once they have made their selections, it prints a summary of their choices, and that is not barcoded or QR coded," Hill said.

Ballot marking devices are described by the Verified Voting Foundation as a unit or system that "allows for the electronic presentation of a ballot, electronic selection of valid contest options, and the production of a human-readable paper ballot, but does not make any other lasting record of the voter’s selections."

Ottawa County Board of Elections member John Smothers was part of the board that originally brought in the new equipment in 2019. He commented on the acceptance of the new technologies.

"That's off the charts. You know, I was concerned about it, the touch screen. Absolutely no problems," Smothers said. "I just forget that a lot of people are familiar with that sort of thing already."

He considers the units intuitively easy to use and similar to the touch screens on a smartphone or tablet.

"These are good companies. They don't do stuff to lose money. There is just so much negative press about it. Touch screens are fine. They are well received and I have heard nothing (negative) since it came out," Smothers added.

People form the foundation in both counties

For Smothers, safety and security of voting comes down to people and the checks and balances used to set up the systems, especially with having equal numbers of Democratic and Republican party members working in the Boards of Elections as required by Ohio law.

"We have a staff out there that is good, beyond words.... I'm just overwhelmed with how dedicated the people are, in the U.S., quite patriotic over it," Smothers said. "It was a good idea to have Democrats and Republicans work together, because we do work together. We, all of us, have the same goal and we would never do anything wrong. Ever. We have certain procedures to do and that's the way we do it."

Smothers' party affiliation can be found on the Board of Elections website, where he is listed as one of two Democrats on the board. All the board members' party affiliations are listed.

"Why do you want to know about it? Because we don't talk about it at the office," Smothers said. "It just doesn't come up when we are working together shoulder to shoulder. Like when we are proofing the ballot, there's one D and one R that proofs the ballot. We all know why that is and it's just really a good safeguard."

Sandusky County has a similar sense of camaraderie.

"Our board works very well together," Chagnon said. "We are very, very compatible. We disagree, but we learn how to agree and we have those discussions."

More information can be found on the Sandusky County Board of Elections website at sanduskycountyoh.gov/index.php?page=board-of-elections and the Ottawa County Board of Elections website boe.ottawa.oh.gov.

rlapointe@gannett.com

419-332-2674

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Boards of elections use different approaches, similar voting equipment