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BERGHEIM • BOERNE • COMFORT • FAIR OAKS • KENDALIA • SISTERDALE • WARING • WELFARE
Thursday, October 15
Explaining the new voting system
Christina Ryrholm Hill Country Weekly Writer’s note: I really dislike change. I am so far behind in accepting faster and more efficient aspects of technology that friends and family despair. A case in point was when we still had the option of paper ballots versus machine voting - I always chose paper until finally the election volunteers said, “Sorry, we no longer offer a choice, it’s machine or no vote”. So machine it was. Kendall County Elections office is diligently preparing to institute a new system for voting for the November 3 General Election. This system combines the most advanced technology AND a paper ballot. The machines have arrived and the training for the staff and election judges has been completed. Every polling location is required to have both a Democrat and a Republican judge present to process each step in tandem.
The new system is in two-parts, a Ballot Making Device (BMD) and a Ballot Scanner. After the voter registration information has been verified a thermal paper ballot, the Express Vote Activation Card, is given the individual. The actual ballot takes into account what county precinct and city district the voter resides. Each ballot has a serial number so that there is a check and balance of the number of ballots issued and number that have been tabulated. The voter then goes to any one of the BMD’s, where each Express Vote privacy station has been set up, and after inserting his/her ballot begins to cast his/ her vote for each office starting with the president and working through federal, state and down to local elections. It is strongly suggested that voters bring a completed sample ballot for reference as cell phones will not be permitted. If the voter wishes to cast a write-in vote it can only be for an individual that has been approved and accepted as a write-in candidate and those name will be on the side of the privacy walls of the BMD. The BMD has some unique features such as changing the screen from white to black (to aid those that are color blind), a zoom button to enlarge the size of the type, a jack for head phones for individuals with eyesight issues and a remote control device for those that will need the BMD brought out to them curbside. After the voter has completed making his/her choices on the screen, and reviewed them to make sure that they are really the choices he/she wants then the ballot will be printed on thermal paper ballot and is taken to the scanner. On each ballot, after the voter registration information, there will be a series of bar codes - one for each candidate or proposition selected. Below that will be another opportunity to verify that the vote cast is the one intended with a description of the office/proposition. When the ballot is inserted into the scanner the information is recorded on a USB stick that will be turned in to the elections office after the polls have closed. The paper ballots are dropped into a secure blue box that will be sealed by the election judges
from both parties and also turned in to the elections office. Early voting began on Tuesday, October 13 and will continue until October 30. In the past the voter turnout for general elections that include the president/ vice president has been in the range of 69-74%. This year Kendall County is expecting closer to 80% and more than half of the votes will most likely be done through early voting including those voting by mail. Currently there are over 33,000 registered voters in Kendall County. For those who choose to vote on election day, if they are in line by 7 p.m. then the polls will not close until all have cast their ballot. If you choose to keep updated on the races by following the Kendall County website, the results of the early voting will be posted as soon as possible, generally by 7:30 p.m. The rest of the totals will be uploaded as soon as all polling places have been tabulated. Whether the voter casts their ballot during early voting or on Tuesday, November 3 they can be assured that all paper ballots have been scanned and tabulated by computer and will have the ballot integrity that comes with a chain of evidence sealed by judges from both parties. It is up to all registered voters to exercise their right to vote!
