Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced today that he has recertified the paper-ballot counting machines used in 47 counties across Colorado.
The move brings a much-needed dose of certainty to this year’s elections for the large majority of Colorado’s 64 counties, and it means all but Mesa and Jefferson counties now have their full complement of election machines certified to use in this year’s elections.
In recertifying the Hart InterCivic optical-scan machines, Coffman said he feels procedures already implemented in the counties are largely sufficient to prevent the problems identified with the machines. The state’s voting-machine testing board twice found that the Hart machines are prone to reading stray marks on ballots, meaning those marks could errantly be counted as votes.
“The testimony presented demonstrated that it is extremely unlikely that extraneous marks would change the outcome of the race,” said a news release this afternoon from Coffman’s office.
Clerks testified at a public hearing Tuesday that they already review the ballots for stray marks before scanning them through the machines. They also said the only instance when a stray mark might slip into the vote count is in the relatively rare case when a voter opts not to vote in the race where the stray mark was made. Otherwise, clerks said they require the machines to spit out ballots with “overvotes,” or more than one vote per race. Clerks said a bipartisan team then examines the ballot to determine the voter’s intent.
Coffman required two things for counties using the Hart machines. First, he required that clerks put a note on the ballot that voters need to avoid making stray marks and need to check their ballot for stray marks before turning it in. Second, he mandated that in the event of a recount, every ballot must be checked for stray marks.
Clerks and Hart officials say they have never had problems with the Hart ballot-counters.
“We are thrilled that we are in a position to continue to serve the County Clerks and Recorders, and the voters in the state of Colorado, with accurate, secure and accessible election solutions,” said Phillip Braithwaite, senior vice president and general manager of Hart InterCivic’s elections division, in a statement.
Counties see paper-ballot counting machines as crucial to holding this year’s election. Lawmakers this week introduced a bill requiring a mostly paper-ballot election system for Colorado this year. The bill comes in response to a move by Coffman late last year to decertify many of the elections machines used in the state for not meeting accuracy and security standards. Coffman has since moved to recertify most of those machines, after being convinced problems with them have been fixed.
Only the ballot-counting machines made by Elections Systems & Software, or ES&S, are currently decertified. Those machines are used in Jefferson and Mesa counties. Coffman is holding another test on the machines today and Friday to try to determine whether the machines can handle two-page ballots.
