JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Duval County Supervisor of Elections Office on Friday afternoon tested voting equipment that will be going to precincts around the city to see if it’s processing ballots accurately.
The Logic and Accuracy Test took place at the Election Center on Imeson Park Boulevard. It’s a process that’s open and transparent to the public.
These tests have been required in Florida for years, even before the voting process came under scrutiny following the last presidential election. They run in all of the counties throughout the state, and they’re done for one reason: to make sure your vote is secure.
For the test on Friday, Duval County election staff members displayed voting tabulators in operation for the Election Canvassing Board, members of the media, including News4JAX, and about 10 members of the public. The test determines if the machines are working properly and counting votes accurately.
News4JAX talked with voters who watched to make sure your vote will be counted. Democrat Ingrid Montgomery was one of the few on hand.
“I think it’s really important for us the public to know that you can trust the system, that the machines are working, and that they are accurate, and that you can trust them,” Montgomery said.
When asked if she thinks this is a good way to find that out, she said, “I do. I do. I don’t know another way.”
News4JAX Voter’s Guide: Click here for a full breakdown of the races, candidates and issues on your ballot
Election staff members could be seen feeding ballots into the scanners. They then checked the accuracy of how well those scanners are reading the votes. This will all be checked and checked again. Then, when these go out to the precincts, all of that will be cleared from them so there will be no mistake at all.
The voting tabulators are chosen at random, corresponding to each Jacksonville City Council District and one early voting site. Four high-speed central count tabulators, which are used to count the vote-by-mail ballots, were also tested. Those ballots are troublesome for some observers like Republican Carmon Martinez, who was at the test as part of the Election Integrity Task Force.
“I trust this particular office, this election office here in Duval County. The process itself, I’d say, has a lot of problems in Florida that still have to be addressed. The fraud, I think, is mostly in the mail-in ballots,” Martinez said.
In the end, all of the machines passed. But they were not the only ones tested. All of the voting machines have been tested earlier by staff. This test of a handful of machines was so that you can see the process.
Early voting begins Oct. 24 in Duval County, and the general election is Nov. 8.