Bartholomew County election officials said a new vote verification system that Columbus voters tested on Tuesday was a “great success.”
The system, called a voter-verified paper audit trail, or VVPAT, is an independent verification system added to electronic voting machines that prints and stores paper copies of electronic voting records to safeguard against possible election fraud and voting machine malfunctions, said Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps.
“Overall, it was a great success and I look forward to seeing how the state works with vendor to make sure we get as many VVPATs as possible for next year’s election,” Phelps said.
The was only one “minor” issue with one of the VVPATs, Phelps said. An encoder, a six-inch card swipe that reads the vote card, on one of the VVPATs wouldn’t stay plugged in on one of the voting machines, but the issue was quickly fixed by a technician for MicroVote, the VVPAT’s manufacturer, Phelps said.
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“There has been nothing major at all,” Phelps said.
Bartholomew County is one of four counties that are part of the state’s pilot program to test the new systems during the city election. The other three counties in the pilot program include Boone, Hamilton and Hendricks counties, said Shari Lentz, Bartholomew County voter registration and election supervisor.
County election officials said they used 32 VVPAT systems on election day, Phelps said. Each VVPAT system typically cost around $1,500, but the Indiana Secretary of State’s office paid for Bartholomew County’s VVPAT equipment, Phelps said.
The VVPAT system is housed in a rectangular metallic box that is approximately 1 foot tall and 6 inches wide with a clear rectangular opening on the front that allows voters to read a print-out that lists which candidates they selected before they submit their ballot.
The slip of paper contains the time, date, the names of the candidates selected, among other information, Phelps said.
Once the voters confirm the paper printout is correct, the system stores the paper sheet and is ready for the next voter to cast their ballot.
After the election, the paper receipts will be stored in a secure and climate-controlled location inside the Bartholomew County Courthouse, Phelps said. County election officials are required to keep the paper voting records for 22 months.
