Almost 3,000 voting machines will be accepting ballots in Oklahoma on Election Day. But what if one of them breaks?
Tucked into cramped quarters inside the Will Rogers Building near the state Capitol is an office with two technicians, and as many as 30 ballot-counting machines in for repair. The workers also make “house calls” doing preventative maintenance year-round, The Journal Record’s Dale Denwalt reports:
Oklahoma’s voting machines look like a video terminal set inside an oversized briefcase. For Election Day, they’re placed atop bins that catch ballots as they’re fed into the machine. Cameron Epley, a support technician, said it takes about a week for the state to have a faulty device delivered to Oklahoma City for repairs. “What takes so long is just ensuring we have enough parts that we can repair the devices,” Epley said.
If something breaks on Election Day, each county has several machines that can be pulled into service in a pinch as a backup. They can also get a machine from a neighboring county.
If the faulty machines are close to the Oklahoma City metro, State Election Board workers can drive out to repair it, if possible.
Mike Ford, chairman of the Tulsa County Republican Party, said human error is more prevalent than technical issues on Election Day. During the most recent municipal election, he said, some poll volunteers didn’t know a key part of the law. “There were problems where some precinct workers didn’t have a good understanding of who could vote on which ballot,” Ford said. “There was one polling location where people were being told that Republicans couldn’t vote because it was a nonpartisan election. We had to make some phone calls really quick and get that resolved.” Political parties are deeply involved with the state’s election infrastructure and appoint observers to make sure things are running smoothly. “When they call and tell us these problems are going on, we just move pretty swiftly,” he said.
Ford lauded the state’s voting procedures, which have a good reputation among poll-watchers. Election Board spokesman Bryan Dean says Oklahoma’s machines are only four years old, and waiting on a federal grant allowed the state to get “tried and true” systems.
KGOU produces journalism in the public interest, essential to an informed electorate. Help support informative, in-depth journalism with a donation online, or contact our Membership department.
