Clarifying the Misunderstanding
A spokesperson for the Kentucky Secretary of State clarified that there have been no complaints regarding “vote switching” or any of the long-debunked rumors associated with it. The Laurel County Clerk, Tony Brown, confirmed that the voter was ultimately able to cast their ballot as intended. According to Brown, the ballot-marking device in the video is designed to create a paper ballot after the voter has made their selections.
Before a ballot is printed, voters are given multiple opportunities to review their choices. If they are not satisfied, they can have their ballots reprinted. Brown explained, “Once you are satisfied with your ballot, you can put it in the scanner, and it verifies that it has been counted.”
Technical Insight from Election Officials
Brown mentioned that election workers were able to replicate the situation depicted in the video after several minutes of attempts, achieving it by tapping a specific area between the boxes on the screen. However, they were unable to recreate the issue consistently.
To further validate the integrity of the voting machines, both the Laurel County Clerk and the company that produces the ExpressVote ballot-marking devices suggested that the video misrepresents the machine’s normal operation. The Clerk’s office shared a video demonstrating a user successfully tapping through candidate options without issue.
Reassuring Voters
In a statement, a spokesperson for the election system and software company noted that problems with their touchscreen voting machines are “rare.” Following the incident, the Laurel County Clerk’s office removed the machine from service for further investigation.
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican National Committee, pointed out that election officials found no errors during their testing of the machine. “Our GOP legal team immediately investigated reports of a voter machine malfunction that would not select President Trump in Kentucky. We called the election officials directly. They disassembled the machine, conducted appropriate tests, found no errors, and confirmed that the voter could cast their vote correctly,” Trump stated.
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman added that county clerks are working to ensure that any potential issues are resolved promptly, reinforcing confidence in the state’s election security.
