Hi Trish, obviously the election is almost here and I was wondering if you could explain how voting tech works in America?
Hi there, and welcome back to another week of Ask Trish. Happy November! Can you believe it’s already here? We’re just a few weeks away from Thanksgiving…which I’m so looking forward to (nothing beats a pie-eating competition with the fam)! And, at the time of my writing this post, we’re also just a few days away from the 2024 US Presidential Election. (On the day this post is released, it will be Election Day!)
This has been a historic and – let’s face it – chaotic election season. So many of my friends, colleagues, and family members have felt stressed, anxious, and frustrated in some way by the election – and I’m sure many of you have, too. It can tempt you to tune everything out and pull a pillow over your head…but on Election Day, I want to encourage y’all (if you’re eligible to vote, and you haven’t already) to head on out there and vote. Make your voice heard. Elections, as messy as they can be, are also an incredible democratic exercise. Don’t miss your chance to be a part of it.
And as you do that, you can be super-duper informed about the voting technology tallying up the votes! Thanks so much to this week’s question-er for the timely question. It’s a great question, one that I’m happy to answer. In that spirit, in this week’s post, I’m going to offer y’all a very brief look at (1) how voting tech works in the US and (2) how secure it is. Sound like a plan?
Let’s get into it:
So, how does voting tech work in the US? Well, first, it’s helpful to take a step back and remember: there are a number of voting “technologies,” from punch-card machines, to scanned paper ballots, to direct-recording electronic devices. Different technologies have had their moment at different times in US history. At the start of our nation’s history, hand-counted paper ballots were the way to go…but by the 19th century, automation began to be used to help count votes. Today, nearly all votes are counted via computer-assisted technologies (more on that in a sec.). But that’s not all! If you’re a teen, you weren’t around in 2000, but you may know that that year, for the Presidential election, the State of Florida relied on punch-card voting machines, machines that became synonymous with inaccuracy and later became notorious in the highly competitive state. There have also, at times, been purely electronic machines…but not everyone trusted them to count votes correctly. All that’s to say: this year, in the 2024 Presidential election, the vast majority of the counties in the US will rely on paper ballots that are counted via computer-assisted technologies. So, what the heck are these technologies/how do they work? I’m glad you asked. These voting machines – created by companies like Clear Ballot, which was featured in this long-form article – are fed ballots; they then intelligently scan ballots to tabulate blackened ovals. (And yes, Clear Ballot machines can handle half-filled/poorly marked ovals…the machines actually detect and flag messy markings for human review, review that voting officials can easily complete on a simple app interface.) Their machines also capture a digital image of the entire ballot, for back-up, and then spit the ballot back out, so voting officials can conduct a manual audit, if needed.
Okay, you might be thinking. That’s pretty cool. But how secure are these systems? Extremely secure, if Clear Ballot is any indication. In addition to the digital image and the paper trail, any poll worker inputs on machines are logged in the machine – so there’s no way to hide any type of tampering, were it to happen. And there’s no need to worry about a malicious actor “hacking” the machines…because they’re not connected to the internet. Any tampering has to take place on-site. And that’s tremendously hard to do, given all of the tracking and the fact that the machines arrive at voting precincts in locked cages. (No joke.) In fact, the location of Clear Ballot’s facility is a secret. I’m not sure it gets more secure than that.
But still, how common is voter fraud? It’s extremely, extremely rare. Don’t just take my word for it – the folks over at the Brookings Institute recently analyzed instances of voting fraud in the 7 most competitive states this year. What did they find? In Arizona, “the percentage of fraudulent votes was a minuscule .0000845%, and no election outcome was altered by ballot fraud throughout that time period.” To put that another way: over 25 years and 36 elections, with 42,626,379 ballots cast, there were just 36 instances of fraud. So don’t lose any sleep over this – thankfully, the US Presidential elections are about as secure as they can be.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and that you learned something new about voting tech! Now that you’re an expert, pass it on. And remember – don’t forget to vote today.
And after you do that, please share any internet-related thoughts and musings with me here. Remember, anything goes – whatever you’re wondering about is 100% valid. I can’t wait to hear from you – and hopefully, over some valuable advice.
Happy Election Day,
Trish