STOCKTON — Nine members of the San Joaquin Civil Grand Jury learned the ins and outs of the ballot counting process on Monday at the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters office.
The jury members were taking part in a test on ballot scanners that will be used in the upcoming June primary.
The purpose of the mock election was to show the vote system is properly prepared and that votes are being accurately counted and reported, said Steve Knecht, an election consultant.
The registrar’s office is required by law to conduct a public test on the ballot scanners at least seven days prior to an election. However, county officials wanted to conduct a test before they started counting mail-in ballots.
Knecht explained to the grand jury that for weeks the registrar’s office staff has been working hard to test the hardware and software for every precinct as well as running test ballots through the system to make sure it’s programmed correctly.
Prior to the visit, grand jury members were given packets with two ballot facsimiles and were asked to mark their choices. Each member was assigned a different precinct, and while at the registrar’s office they were given actual ballots and were asked to transfer their choices on to ballots. Grand jury members were then able to feed their ballots through the optical ballot scanner and the central count scanner and compare the results for accuracy.
“We’re really fortunate to have the members of the grand jury come to our office and for us to be able to explain our process, then have them take the next step and be involved with the process,” San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters Melinda Dubroff said. “This is the kind of transparency that really helps the public understand our process, and it builds trust in the system. If people don’t believe in the accuracy of the system, we’re going to have low turnout, so this kind of activity helps that.”
The grand jury members were all very pleased with ballot counting process and eager to learn how the scanners worked.
“I think it’s very detailed and has a high level of security to it,” grand jury member Fred Miramontes said as he fed his ballots into the machine. “That’s comforting to know that there is not any room for there to be any alterations.”
Miramontes said that participating in this exercise made him feel more confident in the election system.
Grand jury member Teri Ruiz was intrigued by the whole process.
“I confirmed my votes as it was printing out and everything was right, so I’m very happy that it was. It looks like these machines will be running for a long time once everybody starts voting. It’s very interesting how they do this,” Ruiz said.
Like Miramontes, having this experience made Ruiz more confident in the system.
“Now I understand how it works because I’ve never seen it operate before, but now I see how it works and it’s great,” Ruiz sad.
May 23, 2018
Lodi News-Sentinel
By Danielle Vaughn
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