YORK COUNTY, Pa. — With less than three weeks until Election Day on November 5, York County is testing all 451 of its voting machines to ensure accuracy and effectiveness.
County officials gave FOX43 access to the testing of the machines, which will be used on Election Day in all 161 polling locations in the county.
Workers tested the machines using unofficial sample ballots in front of observers from both parties. More than half had been tested by the end of the day on Wednesday.
The machines are programmed to give ballots back to voters if there are errors on the ballot, such as if multiple candidates in the same race are voted for.
"This is a perfect example of a ballot where every bubble is filled in," said York County Director of Elections Brian Sheaffer, as he displayed a ballot with every candidate bubble filled in all races. "So what we'll do is we're going to put in this machine, and the expected result is for it to kick out, saying it was an over vote."
The machines are also programmed to reject any mail-in or provisional ballot, as they are only meant for the votes cast at polling locations on Election Day.
After the voting is over on November 5, each voting machine will produce a ticker tape of the result of the precinct. That result, which will not include mail-in or provisional ballots, will be posted at the polling locations and reported to the county. They will also include imaging of write-in votes.
"On this ballot here, you can see there was John Doe written in for one of the congressional races," said York County Commissioner President Julie Wheeler, as she displayed the ticker tape from a machine. "And then that matches this tape here for the 10th congressional district, and it has John Doe."
The results are also backed up by a memory card in each machine.
"We take what's called the CF card for the machine, and the staff tests that as well to ensure that what's on this card matches what's on the tape and what was recorded on the ballot," Wheeler said.
Each county's results are audited twice, and the paper ballots are stored in case a hand count is needed due to any sort of discrepancy.
It’s all in an effort by the county to bring transparency to the election process and to reassure voters of the integrity of elections in Pennsylvania.
"We want to be transparent with our voters and provide some assurance that we are testing this equipment," Wheeler said. "And that when they go in and cast their ballot for whoever they cast it for, that the vote is going to be recorded for the candidate that they desired it to be cast for."