WHEATLAND — Some members of the Platte County Republican Party recently expressed dissatisfaction or suspicion regarding the use of ballot machines for election polls. With scandal and media frenzy surrounding the last Presidential election results, voters are concerned that electronic counting methods could be suspect, or even tampered with.
Jerry Cundall, chairman of the Platte County Republican Party brought the group’s concerns before the commissioners. “We have a very good, solid bunch of people in the Republican Party, and we are united in our thoughts,” Cundall began. “Our intention is for everyone to be involved in the voting process, and while there are murmurs of controversy, our County Clerk, Malcolm Ervin is doing a superior job. What he has done is great, but our problem is with the machines.” Cundall acknowledged that even though the results were easy and fast, there are questions surrounding the use of machines, and potential tampering or hacking problems down the road that could potentially affect the end result of a vote. “Is there a possibility that these machines can be manipulated?” Cundall asked. “Our mission is to get together and see if we can improve the security of a system before there is an issue. We are already seeing interesting things with these ballot machines across the country. What can we do to prevent a problem?” While Cundall also acknowledged that leadership in the county has been good, and there have not been ballot problems here, the potential threat remains; at least in the collective mind of the Platte County Republican party. “We understand that County Clerk Ervin has a lot of rules to abide by. We just want things more secure and establish voter confidence. A lot of people don’t want to use the machines. Is this a real threat or is it perceived?” Cundall queried. “We have been told that these machines can be hacked. We really want your input as commissioners.”
“We use equipment from a company named Election Systems & Software (ES&S),” Ervin explained. “We have two types of equipment. The DS200 is an optical scanner and all it does is count the votes that are marked on ballots. The other piece of equipment is called the ExpressVote, which is used to mark ballots.”
Commissioner chair Steve Shockley answered by saying, “The Voter Accessibility laws require the use of these machines to accommodate voters who cannot physically vote another way. It must be in place to accommodate certain limitations.” The equipment in question is part of this requirement.
“Malcolm’s office has done a lot of extra work in all of the elections we have had in the past year,” commissioner Ian Jolovich interjected. “That’s a choice he has made to be more involved in that process. He has gone above and beyond, and his staff has done the same thing. It does help to become more familiar and comfortable with the whole process.” Jolovich added that he continues to come back to election integrity. “We have locked that down in the aspect of voting,” he said. “I believe the problems stem from everything leading up to the voting point. 90% of what goes wrong happens in the time before people vote.” Jolovich cited a situation of potential voter fraud (that does not just exist with the use of machines) when he lived in another state, and used to receive mail-in ballots meant for the previous owners of the house. “That’s a bad deal. There would be no way to check invalid of fraudulent voting of that kind. I believe we are doing a good job. Voters stop trusting the process because they hear all the stories and misinformation leading up to an election, so the question is really how to address that problem. I believe we have very trustworthy county workers.”
Cundall added that he hoped to continue to publicize the positive action the Republican Party is taking. “We really want people to know what we are doing and what we are trying to accomplish. It is also so important to get young people involved. That by itself is a big job, especially when they do not realize the importance of their vote.”
“The day Malcolm tested that equipment, I was there,” Shockley said. “There were only a few other people present. If there is concern about the election, then why aren’t people involved in the other processes of how it takes place?”
Ervin also encouraged attendance to post-election audits and other meetings. “There are a lot of concerns that are addressed at the county canvas as well as during the post-election audit. But if you’re not attending those sessions, you won’t know,” Ervin said. “Our office has done a good job to convey that the process is fair, honest, and accessible. We will continue to do that. It must be a partnership. We want those with concerns and questions to come.”
Cundall did reiterate that the concern was with voting equipment and not with Ervin or his staff. “We are meeting with Malcom next week, and we will talk about what we can and can’t do and what restrictions exist,” Cundall added. “Our group represents a good cross-section of the county, and we would love your input. We only want to avoid potential problems down the road.”
“I can’t really find a study that says a hand count is better than a machine count,” Shockley said. “I’ve read study after study that the hand count is off by 6% and the machine count is off by 2% .”
Jolovich expressed his appreciation to Cundall, “We appreciate you coming in. It’s hard to do, and most people don’t. I just feel
there is more liability leading up to an election.”
Cundall replied that the Republican Party was sincerely interested in the opinions of the commissioners and Ervin. “If we know what you’re thinking, then we know what we can do, and we just want to be proactive instead of waiting until there is a problem.”
The next commissioner meeting is February 20th at 9:00 am. The public is always encouraged to attend.
