By Dana Kazel
When you go to the polls for November’s general election, you can be confident results are accurate, and that only eligible voters took part. There are many safeguards in place – probably more than most people realize – to ensure this.
Since the St. Louis County Auditor’s Office is the election official for our county, we figured this was a good time to share a sampling of the protections in place.
When you vote, it’s on a paper ballot. That means there’s always an audit trail.
Every polling location is staffed by election judges from both major political parties. Election judges must declare their party affiliation or claim no affiliation. All sensitive tasks, such as assisting a voter or counting ballots, must be conducted by two election judges of different major political parties.
When polls close, election judges empty the ballot box and print the summary tape, which shows the total number of ballots cast and results for each candidate. These judges verify that the number of signatures on the roster match the number of ballots cast and then sign the summary tape.
Notice what isn’t involved? There’s no internet or modem connection. All tabulation equipment is off-line, so concerns of hacking are unfounded.
Ballots are then placed in a sealed container, and the encrypted thumb drive assigned to that specific tabulator machine is removed and placed in a sealed envelope and brought to the Auditor’s Office.
Our staff then transmits the results to the Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State using authenticated and encrypted links. The Secretary of State publishes preliminary results as they come in on election night. But even then, our Auditor’s Office staff reviews what is posted to ensure it matches the summary statements the election judges had certified at the polling place.
It’s important to remember that voting results are still considered preliminary at this point because there are even more checks that are required. For instance, we – like all counties in Minnesota – conduct a Post-Election Review following the general election. This is a recount by hand of randomly selected precincts to ensure results match what the voting machine counted.
If this review doesn’t meet the accuracy criteria, we would be required to review additional precincts. St. Louis County has never had to do this as we’ve always met the accuracy criteria.
It’s only after all this that the Canvassing Board meets and certifies the vote totals.
What about concerns of ineligible people voting, or people voting more than once?
Minnesota has a Statewide Voter Registration System that checks for anyone who voted more than once. A voter’s record – or “history” – is marked in the system when they vote. If someone has submitted an absentee ballot, it’s tracked in this system so they can’t also vote in person. When our staff enters voting history data and Election Day registrations into the system, it warns if a voter has already voted. In addition, data on non-citizens from the Department of Public Safety is checked against this system to identify non-citizens who may have voted. Any incidents are turned over to the county attorney for further investigation and possible prosecution.
You may not realize, but any time you change your address or renew your driver’s license, or when a death notice is filed – all of these records are processed by county staff to ensure each voter is accurately registered in the system.
Fun fact: that’s about 50,000 records checked every year just in St. Louis County.
It’s year-round work to ensure accurate and trustworthy results, but it’s work our staff care passionately about, recognizing our democracy depends on it.
Dana Kazel is Communications Manager for St. Louis County.
