County takes precautions for Nov. 5 ballot-counting
Cache County election officials are taking precautions to ensure votes cast on Nov. 5 will be counted correctly.
Residents in Cache County vote with punch cards, meaning a stylus is used to punch out a small hole next to a candidate’s name on a card. A machine then reads the holes in the card to count votes. The small, round paper punched out of the card is called a chad. If the chad is not punched out completely, it can interfere with scanning equipment, resulting in a miscount.
Sharon Hoth, Cache County elections deputy, said the county has not had problems with hanging chads in the past and she doesn’t expect any problems this year.
“Election judges have instructions to brush anything hanging loose, because those hanging chads jam the machine,” Hoth said. “Technicians brush when they are taken out of the envelope and before running them through the machine.”
Since the controversial Florida vote in the last presidential election, Utah voluntarily adopted the voting system standards of the Federal Election Commission, along with 36 other states. The standards, according to the FEC Web site, are “documented agreements containing technical specifications to be used consistently as guidelines to ensure that automated voting systems are accurate, reliable and secure.”
Some of those specifications include checking the maintenance, operation, storage and transportation of voting equipment. Software is also examined for flaws. The tests are performed by three entities, the state, county and an independent testing authority designated by the National Association of State Election Directors, according to the FEC Web site.
“We check all of our equipment,” Hoth said. “This year we have checked them all twice to make sure they are clean.”
Hoth believes the miscounted votes in Florida may have been caused by a failure to empty chads out of voting units.
“We’ve learned that if you keep the voting units clean, that doesn’t happen,” Hoth said. “We empty all ours and then vacuum them out, and then we punch demo ballots through just to be sure they are all working properly.”
But even properly maintained equipment doesn’t guarantee a fair election, Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., told the New York Times last Monday.
“The Florida flap proves that even with new voting machines and more money, local officials can still mess up an election,” Bond said.
Hoth said it can be a challenge to find qualified people to hire as election judges. Applications for the job are given out at party caucuses and sent to judges from previous years. Job candidates are trained for about an hour, depending on how many questions they ask, she said.
“Sometimes it’s very difficult [to find candidates], and we have to hunt,” Hoth said.
Doug Lewis, executive director of the Election Center, told the New York Times last Monday that too much is expected of poll workers.
“Training may help a bit,” Lewis said. “But we’ve got to have more and better choices of people to work at the polling places.”
The Associated Students of Utah State University will be giving out hot chocolate on the Taggart Student Center patio Monday, where a map will be posted to show USU students what district they are in and where they need to go to vote.
-heidithue@cc.usu.edu