I-Team: Checking to make sure Cuyahoga Co. voting machines worked

Ed Gallek
·2 min read

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) — The Fox 8 I-Team has found new developments in the checks to make sure Cuyahoga County voting machines worked, and this comes after we revealed a mystery behind 900 votes.

Friday, the Board of Elections carried out a ballot machine test. A test for accuracy which is part of the regular process of counting votes after every Election Day.

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The Board calls the test successful releasing a statement saying, “The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections conducted its required Public Test of the Automatic Tabulating Equipment utilized in the November 7, 2023 General Election. This test ensures the accurate counting of the votes cast for all offices and on all questions and issues. The CCBOE ran a successful test of its automatic tabulating equipment and continues to work on finalizing the Official Results for certification at its November 28, 2023 meeting. “

But, this week, the I-Team reported that 903 votes cast in Bay Village had been discovered days after the election.

The Director of the Cuyahoga County  Board of Elections told us those votes had not been uploaded into a computer to be counted. So, the computer totals did not match the paper ballots.

The Director said that appeared to be, simply, a worker’s mistake.

We followed up by asking, “How do you know someone didn’t do it with bad intent?”

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Tony Perlatti answered,  “You don’t. However, it’s something that has happened over the years. And, again, we have so many layers, approaches to it. I think they understand that we’re going to, you know, things will be found.”

The 900 votes discovered after election night could affect a race for Judge with Rocky River Municipal Court, a race for a Bay Village City Council seat and a race for a Bay Village School Board seat.

The Board of Elections expects the final results to be certified and announced on Nov. 28.

The Board also points out that the testing of the machines gets carried out both before and after an election. Then, the records of the testing are kept with the ballots.

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