Elections 411
Voting in Person
The Counting of Ballots
Overview: The first check when a person comes to vote on election day is that they must ‘check-in’ with an election judge. They must state their name and address to confirm they are who they say they are and they live where they say they live. If the election judge finds them on the voter roll, but there is an “AB” next to the voter’s name, they will be unable to vote in person, as the “AB” indicates they have already voted absentee / by mail.
If a person is not on the list of registered voters when they check in on election day, they can register and vote using election-day registration. In order to do this, again they must prove their identity and residence. (acceptable ways to do so are found here on this list). Once they are registered, they can vote. Their vote will be counted based on the evidence provided to election judges. A final verification of the individual’s registration is performed by county election officials after election day.
SAFEGUARD: Once voting has ended (either on an early voting day or on election day), the first thing election judges do at the close of polls is to confirm that the number of paper ballots in the ballot box matches the number of voters who checked in, the number of ballots given to voters, and the number of ballots the tabulator says it scanned. There are generally at least four election judges working at each one of these steps on election day. All of the numbers at each step must match up before election results are reported.
Another important piece of election security is the actual ballot box – where the ballots are kept once they are cast. The ballot box is part of the equipment which scans and counts the ballots and is always monitored by an election judge. The number of ballots deposited into the ballot box is periodically monitored and recorded, to make sure it matches the number of people who received ballots, and the number of ballots cast and counted. Election judges working at the end of the election day sign a summary statement that includes a variety of statistics reflecting what happened in their polling place. These statistics include how many voters checked in, how many voted paper ballots were cast, the number of ballots cast as reflected on the tabulator, and how many election judges served throughout the day.
SAFEGUARD: Once a person has voted, it is denoted in the statewide voter registration system, which prevents them from voting again. This also prevents an absentee or mail ballot that has not yet been counted from being counted. This system is also effective in ensuring election integrity among non-registered voters (those who are doing election-day registration), as they must still provide proof of residence mentioned in the voter registration section (or found on this list) and their registration is entered into the statewide voter registration system preventing them from registering and voting again.
SAFEGUARDS:
Locally purchased
Pre-tested and approved for use in Minnesota
County public tests conducted
Election judges from both parties must perform a “000” test each day to ensure ballot recording or tabulating system is working correctly
Not connected to the internet during voting
Memory chips locked into the machine
Each memory chip encrypted with the machine number on it
Data can only be pulled once from each machine
Encrypted connection used when data uploaded to county elections or OSS
Machines stored in secure locations
Ballots to County Officials
At the end of election day, counties receive the information brought to them from the election judges. This information includes election day voter rolls, ballots, incident logs, and other similar information. All the information received by the county is later used during the post-election audits.
Just as election judges work in teams of two, the county also receives the information this way. The team(s) from the county make sure that they are receiving the correct, sealed ballots, rosters, and other election information. The county team must also record in a log that they received this correct information, and sign their names in the log. If any information is missing, the teams of election judges are sent back to their polling places to retrieve it.
SAFEGUARD: After receiving the election results from the polling places, the county moves the items to a secure storage location. Each year the locks to the secure locations are changed just prior to the election and only two people have keys to the area: the county auditor and the election supervisor. The area is kept under video surveillance at all times, and a sign-in sheet is kept with dates, times, reasons for entering, and signatures required before entering the secured area. Any entering the room must also be done in a pair.
Certified! In order for vote totals to be official, they must be certified by the canvassing board. The canvassing board checks to make sure the numbers received from the county and the election judges at the precincts match. If the numbers don’t match, the canvassing board must figure out where the discrepancy came from before they can certify the results.
At the very end, after a general election, the county must conduct what is called a “Post Election Review.” During this review, up to three offices (President or governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S House of Representatives) on the ballot are re-counted by hand to check again that the tabulating machines accurately counted the results. If the numbers do not match, there are escalation procedures to figure out why and potentially hand count additional precincts. (see Public Tests, Audits, Recounts for more information)
Ballots Counted: The number of ballots cast in the ballot box are then counted by a team of election judges. Afterward the number of ballots cast is balanced with the number of voters checked in and the number of ballots issues, they are secured and sealed with the signatures of the election judges.
Tabulator Tape Printed: After the results are tabulated, the election judges print a tape out of the tabulator machine that includes the results and the number of ballots cast. This includes only numbers for each candidate, and provides no indication of which voters voted for which candidates.
Verified: After the precinct is balanced by the election judges, the election results are transmitted either electronically or physically to the county elections office. The ballots, along with other precinct election information is often transported with the head and co-head election judge to the county office, but only a single election judge is required to make the delivery. There, they verify that all the necessary steps and documentation required by state law have been completed.