MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The manufacturer of the ballot-marking machines used in 23 different Kentucky counties, of whom at least seven faced reported touch screen issues, is responding to those claims, saying their machines were working as designed.
Madison County’s Clerk said that may be true, but if it is, it means the machines were poorly designed.
“They’re designed for voters, not election experts,” said Madison County Clerk Kenny Barger. “It’s voting, it has to work well for the voter.”
Barger showed us how even the instructions on the voting machine, which say to click a person’s name, could instead lead people to click on a check box instead.
“If you go here,” Barger said, referring to the check box. “It’s a crapshoot what you’re going to get.”
Some voters clicked on the square despite signs and, in some cases, warnings from poll workers to click the names. Not all Kentucky counties that use the same system Madison uses had those signs posted.
In many cases, the machine recognized clicks on the check-box for a straight Democrat ticket, as a Republican straight party ticket instead, which is a selection just above the Democrats, Barger said.
Voters who caught the issue while reviewing their ballot before submitting, which the machine gives voters multiple opportunities to do, were able to get it corrected.
“The check box is simply a visual representation of the voter selection,” said Katina Granger, a spokesperson for Election Systems and Software, which makes the ExpressVote ballot-marking device.
Barger said he agrees with that too, but that the ExpressVote touch screens looked like ballots, which voters would click the box.
The company representative Barger had been speaking with admitted there was an issue with the touch screens, Barger said.
“There's definitely something going on,” Barger said. “They are coming in next week to assess it to try and figure out what's actually happened, whether it's hardware or something with the calibration of touch screens.”
Barger said they wouldn't be coming to Madison County if they didn’t think there was a problem.
The check box will be removed in future versions of the ballot-marking devices, the Election Systems and Software spokesperson said. Barger called that news “fantastic.”
On the day we spoke with him, Barger said he found one more issue with the devices. The instructions on one of the opening screens tell people to click a “cast your ballot” button at the end.
The issue is there is no “cast your ballot" button.
Instead, he said it’s just a print button.
It’s an important difference, he said, because the machine only marks the ballots.
“So to say 'cast your ballot' is really misleading to the voter,” Barger said.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General said their election fraud hotline received 28 calls regarding voting machines. It’s unclear exactly how many of those were for the ExpressVote systems.
“We did report to SBE and local clerks the issue every time we had a call come in. Our staff has worked diligently to let the necessary partners know and responded as necessary to any concerned voters,” the spokesperson said.
Barger said it would cost $750,000 to switch to the two other machine manufacturers. The small number of manufacturers raises other concerns for him.
The full response from Election Systems and Software is below:
“The ExpressVotes are working as designed. Voters needed to touch the party’s name or candidate’s name in the center of the selection area in order to make their choices on the machine. When this large area is selected, the box will light up and place a check mark in the smaller box in the upper lefthand corner. The check box is simply a visual representation of the voter selection. I’ve attached a diagram which I believe will help explain. The small check box has been removed from the selection area in future versions.”
