'Check the tech': Jessamine County holds required ballot scanner testing before elections

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Over the next few days, every scanner that will be used in Kentucky's upcoming primary election will be tested for accuracy. This is a routine procedure, according to Secretary of State Michael Adams.

"Not many people know that every single ballot scanner in Kentucky gets rigorously checked before its ever utilized," Adams said.

On Monday morning, Jessamine County Clerk Johnny Collier and the county's Board of Elections tested their scanners at Harp Enterprises, which is an equipment vendor for many of Kentucky's counties.

"You've got Democrats and Republicans. It's a bipartisan board - that's state law," said Adams. "They are checking every single one of these."

"This is happening in all 120 counties this week," added Adams.

Collier says he's looking for two things during accuracy tests.

The first is that the scanners are set to zero. That means no other ballots have been recorded in the primary so far.

The second is that the scanners accurately record and tabulate the test ballots. This helps ensure that votes are counted correctly.

"We do this every election," said Collier. "And it's just to provide integrity and transparency to the voting process."

And it helps with public confidence, according to Adams. He wants to reassure voters that the scanners are a regulated, tested, and accurate technology.

"It's very old-fashioned," Adams explains. "This is the kind of stuff when I took a multiple-choice test in high school on a Scantron sheet. That's what this is. It's just optic scanners to look at pen marks on pieces of paper. There are no modems in these things. There's no internet connectivity. It's actually a felony under Kentucky law to connect any of these devices to the internet."

"This is as simple as it gets," Adams added. "It's very old-fashioned, but it works."