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PBS News Hour - Segments

How Wisconsin tests its voting machines to ensure election accuracy

PBS News Hour - Segments

PBS NewsHour

News, Daily News

4.11K Ratings

🗓️ 12 August 2024

⏱️ 5 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Wisconsin is holding congressional and state primary elections this Tuesday. They're seen by some as a dry run for November when the battleground state will play a crucial role in deciding the next president. Election officials have been increasingly transparent about voting mechanics to help boost confidence for the state's 3.5 million registered voters. William Brangham reports. PBS News is supported by - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/about/funders

Transcript

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0:00.0

Wisconsin is holding congressional and state primary elections this Tuesday.

0:05.0

They're seen by some as a critical dry run for November when the battleground state will play a crucial role in deciding the next president.

0:12.0

And as William Bringham reports, election... a crucial role in deciding the next president.

0:13.0

And as William Bringham reports, election officials have been increasingly transparent

0:17.7

about the mechanics of voting to help boost confidence. In McFarland, Wisconsin, a small village just outside the state capital Madison,

0:27.4

they're stress testing the tools of democracy.

0:31.6

Deputy Administrator Clerk Cassandra Settinger is checking their

0:35.1

four ballot counting machines. We put them right side up, we put them backwards, we

0:39.6

put them upside down, proving to people that you can put the ballots in in any way shape or form

0:44.6

and it will still read the results it's supposed to.

0:47.8

The state requires this test within the 10 days before every election to ensure the systems are running correctly and counting ballots

0:55.7

accurately.

0:57.1

Official scanned pre-marked ballots through the tabulators and compare the machine count to the expected result. A perfect count is

1:06.3

required before any machine can be used on election day. In her eight years as clerk

1:12.3

setting her says she has never had one In her eight years as clerk,

1:12.5

setting her says she has never had one problem with the machines.

1:16.5

After the test, the counts are reset to zero,

1:21.4

the tabulators are sealed, and they're locked in a secure room.

1:25.0

Our election storage room was an old evidence room, so there's four cameras in each of the corners.

1:30.0

State law and the Wisconsin Elections Commission also require these tests to be open to the public

1:37.0

so citizens can understand the security protocols that are in place.

1:42.0

Setting her says she's alarmed by the threats made towards

...

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