A touchscreen voting machine used for early voting at the Knox County Courthouse was taken out of service this week after it failed to properly register votes.
Knox County Clerk Scott Erickson tells WGIL that the issues were rectified and did not result in any improper ballots being cast. According to Erickson, the problem stemmed from a calibration issue with the machine. He assured voters that electronic voting is “most absolutely safe.”
The issued surfaced during early voting for the Nov. 5 General Election at the Knox County Courthouse. A malfunction with the touchscreen resulted in wrong votes being selected. Voters were able to see the mistakes on their screen and reported it to election officials before the ballots were cast.
“It was more than likely a calibration issue with that machine,” Erickson said. “We recalibrated it, put it back into service and everything was going smooth. A few days later that machine started presenting the same type of issues, and at that point in time, it was my determination that we were going to take that machine offline, and out of service for the election.
“All the votes on that machine are safe; they’re cast and there’s a memory card that stores those votes, so all of those votes will be included in the final tabulations on election night. We are just not using that machine for the duration of the election.”
All voting places under the jurisdiction of Knox County offer the option of either completing a paper ballot, or voting electronically on the touchscreen machines. Voters that use touchscreen machines are able to review their choices before casting a ballot.
Erickson said his office has fielded calls and messages about the issue after it surfaced on social media this week.
“I want to reassure the voters that all the votes on those machines are safe — electronic voting is most absolutely safe,” said Erickson, who noted he votes by touchscreen machine on election day.