JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trust in U.S. elections has become a flashpoint in recent years, fueled in part by Pres. Donald Trump’s repeated claims of election fraud.
In Duval County, election officials say they are working to build confidence well before voters cast ballots.
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The Duval County Supervisor of Elections Office on Thursday invited the public inside for a live demonstration of its voting equipment tests, allowing residents to watch as officials verified the machines that will be used in the upcoming primary.
“What we’re doing is a logic and accuracy test, where we publicly test the equipment prior to its use in the upcoming elections,” Duval County Supervisor of Elections Jerry Holland said.
The test involves running prepared “test decks” of ballots through the county’s tabulators and comparing the results with known totals, Holland said.
“We have prepared test decks of ballots with all the different candidates and races and variations of what the tabulation could be. We know what the results should be,” Holland said. “Now we’re going to run them in the machine in front of the public, tabulate them in front of the public, and make sure those results match.”
Among those attending was Victoria Bryant-Riggins of the League of Women Voters, who said public access is key to encouraging participation.
“I am here as a part of the League of Women Voters and our mission is to make sure that voting is available to everyone and that it is fair,” Bryant-Riggins said. “As more individuals participate in the process and they see for themselves that it is really open, free, and there are nothing to stand in the way of free voting, more people will vote.”
The logic-and-accuracy test uses a random sampling of one precinct tabulator from each of Jacksonville’s 14 City Council districts, one tabulator from an early voting site and all four high-speed tabulators.
Holland said the county also must account for hundreds of variations in ballots.
“We have a lot of different ballot styles. You have one for each of the major parties and those with no party affiliation,” he said. “We have over 500 ballot styles that we have to test today.”
Asked about Trump’s fraud allegations, Holland said the scrutiny gives election officials a chance to explain their procedures and pointed to Florida’s existing safeguards.
“What helps is it gives us an opportunity to share what we do because Florida is really the platinum standard when it comes to doing elections,” Holland said. “There wasn’t anything the president mentioned that we’re not already doing as part of our election systems here in the state of Florida.”
Election officials said the system worked without issues during Thursday’s test and that all votes were tabulated accurately. They said they hope the public testing will reassure voters that the process is secure and that their ballots will be counted.