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Voting equipment used in Clermont County

ES&S ExpressVote(ADA)
ES&S ExpressPoll Tablet
ES&S DS200

Clermont County Electors vote on preprinted paper ballots.

EXPRESSVOTE:
The only machine characterized as a ‘voting machine’ that is voted on is the ExpressVote touchscreen. At least 1 ExpressVote is located at each polling location on Election Day and at the early vote center at the Board of Elections. The ExpresVote allows voters with disabilities to mark their ballot. The ExpressVote prints a ballot with the votes in each contest and the voter will insert that ballot into the DS200 scanner like all other preprinted and hand voted ballots.

EXPRESSPOLL:
The ExpreessPoll is the tablet used to verify a voter’s eligibility to vote when entering the polling place on Election Day. The ExpressPoll (EPB) tablet scans a voter’s driver license to bring up their name, address, and voting precinct. The voter confirms their information to the election worker and if they are eligible to vote, they are handed a receipt to take to their precinct to receive a ballot.
DS200:
The DS200 is a tabulation machine. On Election Day every precinct within each polling place has a precinct specific DS200 tabulator. A DS200 tabulator is also located at the early vote center at the board of elections. Voted ballots are placed into the tabulator after being hand voted on Election Day and during early voting at the vote center.

 

Preprinted paper ballot hand marked and scanned in tabulator
ES&S DS200
ES&S ExpressVote(ADA)
https://www.sos.state.oh.us/globalassets/elections/maps/votingsystems.pdf

Remote Ballot Marking System:  Democracy Live Secure Suite
https://www.sos.state.oh.us/globalassets/elections/maps/remoteballotmarkingsystem.pdf

 

Ohio is a paper ballot state

Every vote cast in Ohio is accompanied with a voter verified paper audit trail. In the November 3, 2020 General Election, 66.5% of ballots cast in Ohio were paper ballots marked by the voter by their own hand and the remaining 33.5% of ballots were machine-marked and verified by the voter with the voter verified paper trail.

    • In Clermont and 46 other counties, voters use pre-printed paper ballots that are hand marked by each voter. Cuyahoga and Hamilton Counties (two of the three largest in the state) used paper ballots.

    • In 28 counties, voters use a ballot marker that prints the ballot for the voter to review the choices they make after reviewing their actual choices on the ballot marking device. The ballot is then scanned in a ballot scanner.

    • In 13 counties, voters utilize a Direct Recording Electronic voting machine with a voter-verified paper audit trail on which the voter may review their choices after reviewing their choices on the screen.

A verified paper audit trail is required by law. A verified paper audit trail “means a physical printout on which the voter’s ballot choices, as registered by a direct recording electronic voting machine, are recorded. The voter shall be permitted to visually or audibly inspect the contents of the physical paper printout. The physical paper printout shall be securely retained at the polling place until the close of the polls on the day of the election. After the physical paper printout is produced, but before the voter's ballot is recorded, the voter shall have an opportunity to accept or reject the contents of the printout as matching the voter's ballot choices. If a voter rejects the contents of the physical paper printout, the system that produces the voter-verified paper audit trail shall invalidate the printout and permit the voter to recast the voter's ballot.” R.C. 3506.01(H).

All Ohio counties provide absentee voters who apply to receive a ballot by mail with a paper ballot. 61.7% percent of absentee ballots were cast by mail in the November 3, 2020 General Election.

 

Ballot printing

Ballot printing is put out to bid annually for the elections held in that calendar year. As with all machines used in the election process, ballot design and paper is prescribed by the Secretary of State:
and Ohio law. Revised Code §3505 details specifications for ballot printing:

 

No voting machines in Ohio are connected to the internet

Certified systems used in Ohio have been examined by an independent Voting System Test Laboratory and examined by a bi-partisan Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners.

Moreover, pursuant to Ohio law §3506.14 and Ohio Secretary of State permanent directive 2022-09 all boards of elections are required to conduct a full battery of logic and accuracy testing on all voting equipment and are required to conduct pre-election public testing to ensure that all electronic voting systems are accurately and uniformly tabulating votes cast during an election. Logic and accuracy testing is the systematic pre-election testing of every component of a voting system with every ballot style to demonstrate that the ballots are accurate and that votes cast will be tabulated properly. Each board of elections is required to conduct L&A testing before every election on every single voting machine and component of automatic tabulating equipment, including backup machines and equipment. Boards are prohibited from deploying any voting equipment that has not undergone L&A testing.

Voting machines are locked down, under strict bi-partisan custody and tamper-evident seals are placed on components once tested. Again, they are never connected to the internet. Bi-partisan election officials verify that the tamper-evident seals are unbroken before the equipment may be used.


Does the BOE use barcodes on ballots?

No. Ballots are anonymous. Sometimes called ‘Australian ballot’ or ‘secret ballot’, voters mark their choices in privacy on uniform ballots.


Voter ID

Before a voter may receive a ballot, they must provide identification to a bipartisan team of election officials.
A bipartisan team of election officials verify identification at the early in-person vote center during absentee voting or at the polling location on Election Day.
All absentee voters who request a ballot by mail must provide identification, including signature verification, on both the application and ballot returning envelope.
Each board of elections maintains the absentee ballot application and identification envelope after each election. Each document is compared to the board of elections records prior to a ballot being provided and a ballot being counted.

Audits

Bipartisan post-election audits are conducted in each of Ohio’s 88 counties to ensure that the results match the choices made by voters as recorded on the paper ballot.

These post-election audits are done following every election, though they seldom receive much attention. The post-election audit conducted statewide in all 88 counties following the 2020 general election returned a statewide accuracy rate of 99.98%. See our press release for more information: https://www.ohiosos.gov/media-center/press-releases/2021/2021-01-05/

 

Is the number of registered voters checked against any database?

The number of registered voters in Clermont County is balanced against the Secretary of State’s state-wide voter registration database (SWVRD). The county voter registration database is also checked against monthly deceased residents reports and felon reports.

Each county board of elections in Ohio uses the National Change of Address (NCOA) service; a secure database that holds change-of-address records. NCOA is a product of the United States Postal Service.

Chain of custody for ballots

Board of Elections Voting Machine Equipment, Supplies and/or Ballot Custody Form (Form No. 400) prescribed by the Secretary of State, updated March, 2021
is used for transport and change of custody for all voting equipment and ballots. Party parity is 100% maintained whenever ballots are transported or in use. Bi-partisan teams accept ballot delivery and maintain positive control throughout Election Day and return to the custody of the board of elections. Ballots are maintained under dual lock and/or dual key card access points. Keys and access cards are controlled by two individuals and both must be present to access equipment or ballots.


Other resources:

Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules  -  Title 35 – Elections
Election Official Manual – Ohio Secretary of State

 

Commitment to integrity

Any allegations of voter fraud are taken seriously and are investigated by the Ohio Secretary of State’s office and county boards of elections. Any identified case is referred to the Ohio Attorney General or a county prosecutor for further investigation and criminal prosecution.

Due to misinformation and in certain cases the unmet expectations of the public, increased attention is being given to the long-established functioning of boards of elections. County boards of elections in all Ohio counties and across the United States embrace the desire of all electors to realize free, transparent, secure, and honest elections. We strive to deliver on our mission to provide election services, information, and education to the residents of Clermont County so they may exercise, unimpeded, their right to vote and have sustained confidence in the fair, impartial, and accurate administration of every election.