Lake and Porter county election officials are reassuring the public that the voting machines used during early voting are functioning properly after a small number of voters complained about the machines.
In Lake County, the Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Director Michelle Fajman and assistant director LeAnn Angerman heard from three voters who expressed concerns that the voting machines they used during early in-person voting did not function properly, Angerman said.
After looking into the voters’ concerns, Angerman said election staff found what occurred was human error when using the machine.
When voting, Angerman said voters push a button to select a candidate, but if the voter hits the button again that candidate would be deselected. If a voter selects a straight party vote but would like to vote for a candidate of a different party in some races, the straight party selection would be canceled but the candidates in the straight party option would be marked throughout the ballot, she said.
The voting machines are not touch screens, according to a Lake County Board of Elections and Registration Office press release, so voters have to make sure they push the buttons on the side to cast their vote.
After voting on the machine, voters can verify their votes on the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail to make sure their ballots correctly reflect their votes, Angerman said. If voters see a mistake on their ballot, they can go back to the machine, hit the review button and make any corrections, she said.
Each of the voters who expressed concern were able to correct the error in the booth and cast their ballots as intended, Angerman said, which means the VVPAT has been working.
“The equipment is safe, secure and it is working as designed,” Angerman said. “We’ve gone through many public tests and the equipment is working fine.”
The voting machines and the VVPAT have been through public tests, according to the press release, during which every vote for every possible option a voter could be selected is tested.
As of Friday, 28,000 voters have successfully cast a ballot during early in-person voting, according to the release.
Dozens of counties throughout the state use similar voting machines that Lake County uses and have been found to be functioning properly, according to the press release.
Porter County Elections and Registration Director Sundae Schoon said election staff have been fielding a few calls from voters concerned about properly casting their ballots. Their concerns stem from one person posting misinformation on social media, Schoon said.
Porter County uses Election Systems and Software, Schoon said, and the machines warn voters if a candidate isn’t selected in a race before the voter moves forward to the next race.
All 39 machines being used for early voting have been tested and found to be working properly, Schoon said.
“We have no problems with our machines. The only way you cannot vote for president on our machines is by not selecting a candidate,” Schoon said. “I am 100% confident there’s nothing wrong with our machines.”
As of Monday, Schoon said 15,505 voters have cast their ballot early in person. The county has also received 2,447 completed mail-in ballots and are awaiting the return of 2,500 mail-in ballots, she said.
“It’s been busy and fantastic,” Schoon said. “We want to keep that rolling.”
Early voting goes through the Monday before Election Day with 11 polling locations in Lake County and seven polling locations in Porter County.
For information on times and locations, check out https://www.porterco.org/1111/Early-Voting for Porter County and https://tinyurl.com/4s34d8a8 for Lake County.
