Arkansas election officials say machines safe; few complaints so far this year

The machines used for voting in Arkansas would be very difficult to tamper with and impossible to hack, and so far there have been few complaints this election cycle, said employees of the secretary of state’s office and the State Board of Election Commissioners.

Leslie Bellamy, director of the secretary of state’s Elections Division, told legislators that qualification codes for the machines are set by the vendor, ES&S in Omaha, Neb. Prior to an election, counties test machines for functionality, logic and accuracy. She said she has heard of two complaints of machines switching votes, but the voters were switched to a different machine and the machines were recalibrated. The tape next to a machine can alert the voter if the machine has selected a different choice.

“There’s multi-levels of passwords from admin credentials all the way down to user credentials, so it would be next to impossible to tamper with machines,” she said.

Bellamy said some counties are all electronic, some use paper ballots, and some use a combination. She said no Arkansas-owned tabulating equipment is connected to the internet, so therefore it cannot be hacked. Bellamy and other officials testified before the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. The agenda was set after at least two legislators heard of election-related issues.

Rep. Michelle Gray, R-Melbourne, said she had heard of animosity between voters and poll workers when poll workers tell them that they cannot wear election-related clothing, including hats, in a polling place. One voter was asked to turn a shirt inside out and had to wear a trash bag when the election-related shirt still could be seen.

Rep. Nate Bell, I-Mena, said a poll worker said she was repeatedly dealing with early voters “who were fairly belligerent about their vote being rigged and the machine wasn’t going to work correctly, and that they didn’t even know why they were there voting.” Bell said he wanted to assure voters that the election will be fair.

“I would just encourage voters that, when you vote on a voting machine, look at the paper tape, and if that paper tape in fact reflects what your voting intent was, you can feel very confident that when you cast your ballot, that that is in fact what your vote will be,” he said.

Keith Rutledge, State Board of Election Commissioners director, said that, so far, one trained, experienced election monitor from Union County has been sent to Jefferson County. No other election monitors have been dispensed.

Heather McKim, deputy director of the State Board of Election Commissioners, and Jon Davidson, education services manager, said afterward that there have been election-related complaints, but not more than previous years and less than in some.

“So far, early voting has gone pretty smooth. I’ve been impressed,” McKim said.