International Courant
Kentucky election officers are backtracking on unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud after a video displaying an obvious technical glitch on a voting machine has racked up tens of tens of millions of views on social media.
Officers say the video exhibits a “voter error” that was simply preventable and had no impression on the voter’s last vote.
Within the viral video, a voter in Laurel County, Kentucky, seems to try to faucet Donald Trump’s title on a touchscreen voting machine, which chosen the choice for Kamala Harris. The video cuts off abruptly and doesn’t present the voter’s last vote.
A spokesperson for the Kentucky secretary of state stated the video exhibits a “voter error.”
“Our workplace has not acquired any complaints about ‘vote switching’ or different long-debunked rumors. We contacted the county clerk, who confirmed the voter error and that the voting machine is working correctly,” the spokesperson stated.
In keeping with Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown, the voter who posted the unique video was capable of forged his vote as supposed.
The video exhibits a voting machine producing a paper poll after a voter selects his or her alternative, Brown stated.
An ExpressVote machine is seen throughout early voting at a polling place on the Black Mountain Public Library in Black Mountain, NC, October 21, 2024.
Jim Watson/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
Voters have a number of choices to verify their alternative earlier than a poll is printed, and voters can reprint their poll twice if they don’t seem to be happy with their alternative.
“As soon as you’re happy together with your poll, you may place it within the scanner and it will likely be checked to see if it has been counted,” Brown stated.
Brown acknowledged that election employees had been capable of reproduce the difficulty as soon as, “after a number of minutes of making an attempt to recreate the state of affairs.”
“This was achieved by hitting an space between the containers. We then tried once more for a number of minutes however had been unsuccessful,” Brown stated.
Each the Laurel County Clerk and Election Techniques & Software program — the corporate that produces the ExpressVote poll marking system — advised the video inaccurately depicts how the machine usually features.
The Laurel County Clerk’s Workplace shared a video of a consumer typing via the candidate choices with none issues, demonstrating that the machine is working correctly.
“Within the video posted, you may see us going forwards and backwards via the names with no downside. This is similar machine utilized by the voter within the video,” Brown stated.
In a press release, a spokesperson for Election Techniques & Software program stated issues with their touchscreen voting machines are “uncommon.”
Lara Trump, co-chair of the Republican Nationwide Committee, famous on X that election officers may discover no errors in testing the machine.
“The @GOP authorized workforce instantly investigated a voter report a few machine glitch that might stop President Trump from being chosen in Kentucky. We referred to as election officers straight. They separated the machine, ran the suitable assessments, discovered no errors and confirmed that voters had been capable of forged their ballots appropriately,” stated Lara Trump.
The Laurel County Clerk’s workplace stated the machine was taken out of service instantly after the incident.
“Investigators have been involved with the county clerk and have really helpful changing the voting machine,” Kentucky Legal professional Common Russell Coleman stated in a press release. “All Kentucky voters can relaxation assured that our elections are safe and that any points shall be addressed rapidly.”
“Touchscreen voting machines don’t reverse votes,” Election Techniques & Software program stated in a press release.
“Voting machines are designed to precisely document a voter’s selections and permit them to view and confirm these selections on display and on a paper poll earlier than submitting that paper for tabulation,” the assertion stated. “There is no such thing as a state of affairs during which a voter could be pressured to forged a vote that he believes doesn’t mirror his intentions.”
Kentucky election officers push again on viral video of ‘vote switching’
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