OLATHE, Kan. — Voters on both sides of the political aisle are focused more on election security than in years past.
To help ease concerns and increase transparency, Frank Sherman, Johnson County elections commissioner, explained how the process is highly controlled with lots of double-checks.
“I think the level of process and just accountability of the election process is obviously under the microscope currently," he said.
It starts with the ballot.
“Here in the state of Kansas, every ballot is required to have what’s called a voter-verified paper audit trail. Every voter votes on a piece of paper," he said.
That provides a physical copy of the vote should there ever be a reason to re-count, or if election officials pick the precinct it came from for a random audit.
It also helps alleviate any worries about hacking, since not only are the machines used to mark the ballots not connected to the internet but there's a chance for voters to double-check what results have been marked before they insert the ballot into another machine for counting.
“When a voter first marks his or her ballot, either the full-size paper ballot or use the touchscreen, they print that ballot and the voter is able to physically hold that paper in their hand and verify their candidate selection and voter selections," Sherman said. "And to cast that ballot is to actually scan it or insert it into a tabulator at a polling site."
The ballots, even blank ones, are kept secure throughout the entire process.
“We have a chain of custody process. They are secured in a locked environment throughout the day when they’re voting. They go through a bipartisan process of checks and balances and security seals being transported back here to the election office," Sherman said. “We count for every ballot.
"Every blank ballot that leaves here at the start of the day and every voted ballot that comes back in addition to other blank ballots. ... We balance and we take security and accountability and kind of the equity of the elections very seriously.”
—
KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers stories involving downtown Kansas City, Missouri up to North Kansas City. Share your story idea with Grant.