One of the most sacred privileges American citizens own is their right to vote.
In recent times, the strength of the systems used to help protect that right have come under fire.
Between the recent U.S. intelligence report confirming Russia’s interference in U.S. primaries and the Iowa caucuses fiasco, questions have arisen around the integrity of current voting practices.
It boils down to a decision often made at the grocery store: paper or plastic?
Should voters follow the paper ballot route? Or are touch screens the way of the future?
Officials in Bartholomew County, and at the Statehouse, feel that they have the answer: both.
Bartholomew County is one of a handful of Indiana counties that will have a system that leaves a paper record for each electronic ballot cast on every voting machine in both the primary and general elections in 2020.
Late last month, MicroVote, the county’s voting machine vendor, told county election officials that all 137 of Bartholomew County’s voting machines will be equipped with the system, called a voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT).
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 malfunction.
Local voters will be familiar with the programs, as they are the same ones that were used during the municipal election this past November.
Bartholomew County was one of four counties that were a part of the state’s pilot program to test the new systems during the fall elections. The other three counties in the pilot program include Boone, Hamilton and Hendricks counties.
County election officials said the systems used on election day worked without a hitch.
Indiana Secretary of State’s Offices recently purchased 60 VVPATs for Bartholomew County, each costing between $1,500 to $2,000, Bartholomew County Clerk Jay Phelps said. On top of that, MicroVote will provide Bartholomew County with the remaining VVPATs, Phelps said.
VVPAT appears to be the way of the future, and Bartholomew County is ahead of the curve.
Currently, the state recommends at least 10% of a county’s electronic voting machines must have a VVPAT, Phelps said. By Dec. 31, 2029, all electronic voting machines in the state must have the devices.
When it comes to elections, there can’t be any room for doubt when determining a winner.
During the municipal elections, Jerone Wood defeated Dascal Bunch 260-259 for the Columbus City Council District 1 race.
A similar situation happened in the 2011 general election, as Frank Jerome defeated Greg Knoll by two votes, 879 to 877, to win the Columbus City Council District 3 seat.
Currently, recounts in Indiana involving electronic voting machines are done by reprinting the vote tallies on the machines and comparing them to the number of signatures in the poll books. Additionally, mail-in paper ballots would be recounted by hand.
If Senate Bill 179, authored by Senator Greg Walker, R-Columbus, is signed into law this week, county recount committees will be able to use VVPATs in recounts, Phelps said.
Once VVPATs are installed at all polling places across the state, it will be much easier to double-check results.
A record-breaking turnout is expected this November, as 4.6 million Hoosiers are registered to vote.
More counties need to take Bartholomew County’s lead and make for a push to change the new technologies. Waiting another nine years is too long a wait.
