Elections Board tests voting machines today

With a November sales tax referendum now just six weeks away, the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections will conduct tests of the County's voting machines this morning. The November 5 elections are the last time the current voting machines will be used. The state is getting new voting equipment for next year's elections. 

From the Athens-Clarke Co government website…

The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections will conduct a Logic and Accuracy Test on all voting equipment that will be used in the upcoming November 5, 2019 Municipal General & Countywide Special Election. In Athens-Clarke County, this election will consist only of a voter referendum on the proposed SPLOST 2020 program.

The testing will begin on Monday, September 23, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the Athens-Clarke County Facilities and Landscape Management Building located at 2555 Lexington Road, Athens, Georgia, 30605 and will continue until all units have been tested and proven accurate. The public is welcome to visit and observe during the testing.

The State of Georgia requires Logic and Accuracy Testing through specific procedures prior to every election. As part of the process, staff with the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections run tests on the touch-screen voting units, the check-in system, and the optical scan system for recording absentee ballots.

The first part of the process involves receiving the secure election database from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office for the upcoming election. The GEMS (Global Election Management System) system uses this database to create memory cards for the voting equipment, program the voting equipment, and produce ballots and reports. GEMS is a non-networked computer server with an encrypted drive.

Once GEMS creates the memory cards for the voting system, these procedures test the proper creation of the voter access cards, display of the ballot, vote collection, and tabulation results. During the process, units are calibrated, physically inspected, and recorded.

All races, headers, race titles, candidates, and placement order of candidates are visually checked on the touch-screen units. Testing is also performed using a voter access card on a sample ballot. Ballots are also checked to confirm proper audio and magnification assistance features.

After a machine is tested and proven accurate, it is sealed and stored in a secure building until election day. Access to this building is tightly controlled. The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections follows all state laws contained in the Official Code of Georgia and State Election Board rules concerning the testing and storing of voting equipment.