Arkansas election officials seek to debunk ‘vote flip’ voting machine conspiracy theory

KÜÇÜK KAYA (KATV) — As tensions mount over the upcoming election, conspiracy theories about rigged voting machines continue to circulate across the country and in Arkansas.

On Friday, state and Pulaski County officials publicly explained how the “Express Voting” machines used throughout Arkansas work.

“We’re getting reports from people all over the state saying, ‘My ballot was flipped over on the marking device,'” said Chris Madison, director of the State Board of Election Commissioners.

Election officials in Arkansas are trying to eliminate misinformation and respond to concerns about the integrity of touch-screen ballot marking devices after multiple Arkansas voters reported that they would try to choose their candidate and then the machine would select a different candidate.

“There is a high level of mistrust, along with a number of scientific studies that show voter intent cannot be captured when using a touch-screen ballot marking device,” said Clint Lancaster, attorney for the Arkansas Voter Integrity Initiative.

“Just like you saw with this touch screen bug, they don’t explain that either. We asked them to give us the code to look at their machine and they say no,” Lancaster told KATV.

But Madison and other officials say it’s simply a case of thick fingers pressing touch-screen buttons on the ballot-marking device, with some voters rubbing their knuckles or palms against the screen, accidentally choosing candidates other than the ones they want.

Officials say using the pen provided can help prevent this.

“There’s a rectangular box; this entire rectangular box represents that candidate. Tap the middle of the rectangular box with a name. If you do that and it turns green, that’s the person you selected,” Madison said.

Don’t try to select the little square box next to your chosen candidate’s name, Madison says, because it’s just a graphic representation.

You’ll have an easier time when you tap the middle of the rectangle with their name.

Pulaski County has been using ‘Express Ballot’ ballot marking devices since 2018, and these devices are now available throughout Arkansas.

“It’s a really fancy pen; that’s all. And when you pull out your ballot, the piece of paper, that’s your ballot. When you examine the names that are printed on it, or the no-choices, or whatever, that’s your chance to verify that it’s printing the choices that you want, and you can take that and put it into the tabulator, the gray box.” when you put it in, it counts instantly,” Madison told KATV.

“And if there is a question about how that ballot was marked, we have the pieces of paper,” he continued.

If the marking device prints your ballot and you notice an incorrect selection or want to change your vote, the ballot will be disregarded and you can try again three times in total, Madison says.

For Pulaski County voters who currently do not rely on ballot marking devices, you can take comfort in the fact that Pulaski County will use paper ballots on Election Day.

“So voters will expect to receive paper ballots on Election Day. We only use marking devices for early voting, and we have one for each voting site for voters with disabilities on Election Day,” said Amanda Dickens, Pulaski County’s chief administrative officer. elections.

If you encounter any problems while voting, ask a poll worker for help.