Preventing voter fraud in HSC

From 2000 through 2010, 649 million votes were cast in general elections, there were 47,000 UFO sightings, 441 Americans were killed by lightning and there were 13 credible cases of in-person voter impersonation.

UFO sightings are more common than voter fraud.

So is getting hit by lightning.

With election time just around the corner, County Clerk Nina Webber and her deputies conducted the mandatory voting machine test last Friday morning.

Each of the five voting machines are hand-loaded by the clerk with a computer chip that has been programmed by the State of Wyoming for state and national elections and by the county or town for local races.

Pre-filled ballots are then run through each of the machines to ensure they are working properly before being set back to zero. At that time, the slot encasing the computer chip is sealed with a metal locking mechanism until voting is completed on Election Day.

At that time the voting machines are locked in individual cases and stored in a secure area where only a few people have access.

That access is through a “fob” key system with each fob programmed with a specific, individual number. At any time, Webber can check who has been in the secure area along with the time and date of entry, all based on which fob was used.

All ballots are also kept securely locked away until the election with limited access. Every ballot is counted once it arrives at the clerk’s office, re-packaged, signed and dated so every ballot is accounted for.

Election Day

The morning of the election, the individual cases are moved to the various polling places and the next step in the democratic process begins.

When the election judges first turn on the voting machines they are prompted to run a check that prints out a slip of paper showing the machine is set to zero votes, the date and a timestamp. Three of the election judges are required to sign that slip.

Voting begins at each of the polling places at 7 a.m.

Once a voter has filled our their ballot, they take it to the judge at the voting machine where it is placed in a slot and electronically scanned and the votes counted. Every ballot is dated and time stamped to ensure accuracy.

If a voter has accidentally voted for too many people on their ballot the machine will catch it and return the ballot. The ballot is then destroyed and a new ballot given to the voter.

In addition, if there is a write in on the ballot, the machine recognizes it, counts it and then drops it into a separate space within the machine, allowing the judges to accurately count the write ins at the end of the day.

Absentee ballots are brought to the individual polling places to be electronically counted on Election Day as well. There is no counting of absentee ballots before the election. The judge will announce they are running the absentee ballots prior to running them through the machine to prevent the appearance of “stuffing the box.”

Over 300 absentee ballots are mailed out in Hot Springs County.

Once the polling places close at 7 p.m., no one is allowed inside the building, including the county clerk.

The final tape is run, counting all the ballots and the judges again sign it before breaking the seal on the voting machine and removing the computer chip, which is handed through the door to the clerk who brings it back to the courthouse.

Once back at the courthouse, each of the chips is run through the main machine to tally all the votes from each of the precincts. Those numbers are then cross-checked with the tapes from each of the machines at the polling places.

Having the cross-check system in place allows the clerk and the judges to catch any discrepancies immediately.

Actual voter fraud

Voter fraud is actually less prevalent than mainstream media would have you think.

Out of the 197 million votes cast for federal candidates between 2002 and 2005, only 40 voters were indicted for voter fraud.

Only 26 of those cases, or .00000013 percent of the votes cast, resulted in convictions or guilty pleas.

A report in 2006 from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission detailed interviews with more than two-dozen researchers and experts on voter fraud and intimidation.

The report concluded that impersonation of voters is probably the least frequent type of fraud because it’s likely to be the first to be discovered.

That would be especially true here in Hot Springs County where the judges not only know you, they more than likely know your parents, your grandparents, your children, and will blow that whistle hard and loud if anyone other than you is signing your name on that line during Election Day.