Smith County elections administrator talks early voting preparations, election security

TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - With the start of early voting fast approaching, we’re taking a look at how an East Texas elections office is preparing to carry out a fair and secure election.

“We’re double checking and triple checking just to make sure we get everything finalized and ready for the upcoming election,” said Smith County Elections Administrator Michelle Allcon.

Standing in a room full of red cages containing prepared election equipment, Allcon explained the cages are filled with equipment needed for each polling location, including ballot boxes and voting booths.

“I think the last thing to go into a cage would be our poll books, which will start next week,” she said.

So, how do they keep this equipment secure and ensure no one tampers with it? Allcon said measures include seals and inventory logs.

“Once we’re done programming it, we actually seal the pieces of equipment that could potentially be tampered with.”

Ahead of the start of voting, the equipment will be loaded onto a truck and then taken to polling locations across the county. When it comes to the machines voters use to make their selections, Allcon said they’re basically a big pencil or printer.

“It does not tabulate or scan or retain any information,” she said.

The job of scanning and storing the ballot is done in a machine that resembles a trashcan.

“And, we tabulate the total results after the election,” Allcon said. “We also do a part that we call a partial manual recount. It’s a mini audit of every election.”

This is just a glimpse at the measures taken to keep elections fair and secure in Smith County.

It involves not only the cybersecurity of the election and not having that election attached to the internet, but it also involves the physical security of the equipment, hand counts and the human element as well.

In-person early voting begins Oct. 24 and ends Nov. 4. Election Day is Nov. 8.

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