The Lake County Board of Elections and Voter Registration tested its election equipment this week, and the agency’s assistant director said it went smoothly.
“We’re very excited for this election,” said LeAnn Angerman, assistant director. “We’re working hard, and everyone is well prepared for this election.”
On Tuesday, the election board completed a public test of its voting machines and ballots to ensure everything runs well before people begin to vote. The test has bipartisan participants, and Angerman said it took about an hour and a half to complete.
Participants tested 60 voting machines and 47 ballot cards. About seven groups helped with the test, Angerman said.
The public test is completed before each election, including primary races.
This year’s election will have a voter-verified paper audit trail at each machine, which Angerman said allows voters to guarantee their vote was cast correctly. Groups also tested the voter-verified paper audit trails this year.
The Lake County Board of Elections and Voter Registration’s one goal is to have a well-run election, Angerman said.
“That is only possible when we are working with bipartisan teams for every aspect of the election,” she added, “and by testing the equipment to make sure the voting machines and scanners are functioning properly to correctly count the votes cast.”
This year’s public test went well, Angerman said, adding that the groups didn’t run into major issues.
Board member Michael Mellon, a Republican, participated in the public test.
“In essence, what you do is test every ballot and a sample of all the equipment to make sure that everybody’s name is appearing how you want,” Mellon said. “You don’t want to get into a situation because of a programming glitch or because of a faulty machine.”
The test used to be faster, Mellon said, but state testing has made it more rigorous. He believes that’s a good thing because it finds issues faster and allows the election board to adjust as needed.
The county also has more equipment now, so more space is required and voting booths are larger, Mellon said. Although this year had changes, he didn’t see major issues and believes everything went smoothly.
“Little things like that will make the experience a little bit smoother on election day,” Mellon said. “We aim to have safe and fair elections, and this is how you accomplish safe and fair elections.”
