Voters in large parts of the country fill in ballots by hand, then the ballots must be scanned and counted electronically. Only in a few places, mostly small towns in the north-east, will the ballots be counted by hand.
The voting machines have been at the center of a number of conspiracy theories following the 2020 election. False claims that the ballots were manipulated to wrest the presidency from Donald Trump have abounded.
No evidence of widespread fraud or manipulated voting machines at the last election has ever been presented. In the swing states, where the Trump supporters were particularly critical of the conduct of the election, several recounts were made which confirmed the result – namely that the Democrat Joe Biden had won the presidential election.
In 2023, the pro-Trump television channel Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems, one of the largest voting machine companies, $787 million to avoid a lawsuit. Fox had said the company’s voting machines were rigged.
Hard work
In the years since, Trump and his allies have nevertheless stuck to the claims that the electoral systems cannot be trusted.
State and local election officials have therefore done their utmost to provide documentation on how they ensure that the election is carried out in an accurate and fair manner.
Officials rely on a voter registration system, which is a database of registered voters. They also have an election management system that election workers use to create, issue and track ballots. They also use a system that reports unofficial results on election night itself.
Involves risk
All of this depends on software and computers, a dependency that involves a certain amount of risk. For example, that the network should fall down or be exposed to a major attack.
Officials are working to identify these hazards to increase safety. For example, one will disconnect critical systems from the internet and use storage devices, such as secured USB sticks, to transfer data.
Access to sensitive equipment is limited to only those who need it. One has logs that track and monitor the devices.
In November’s presidential election, almost all ballot papers will have a paper list that can be used to get an accurate count should there be electronic problems or cyber attacks.
Not connected to the internet
With a few exceptions, the voting machines are not connected to the internet. There are certain precincts in a few states that allow ballot scanners at polling stations to transmit unofficial results using a mobile private network. This can happen after voting has ended on election day and the memory cards containing the vote numbers have been removed.
Election officials who allow this say it ensures faster reporting of unofficial election results on election night.
Computer security experts have said this is an unnecessary risk and should be banned.
Security breaches in 2020
Experts have also expressed particular concern about a series of security breaches that occurred after the 2020 election as Trump allies sought to access voting systems in Georgia and elsewhere to prove their unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud.
Election officials say there are several security measures in place to ensure the systems are not tampered with.
It is about physical security, for example locked rooms with limited access and the use of tamper-proof seals.
In addition, the voting equipment is tested before the election, a process that includes running sample ballots through the equipment to ensure that the votes are counted correctly.
Checks must also be carried out after the election to identify any errors or inaccuracies that may have occurred.
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