In Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary, many New Hampshire voters will use scanners at least 15 years old, maybe from Bill Clinton's administration. The antiquated AccuVote ballot tabulators used in half the state's cities don't pose security threats, say election experts. Their age worries them.
Failures might compel local election officials to tally votes by hand on Election Day, delaying results reporting. Replacement components are scarce. Recent ballot-counting delays and malfunctions in other states have been exploited to promote conspiracy theories that weaken public trust in the vote, despite no widespread voting equipment issues.
We have three polling sites and three machines. “That’s it, no backup,” said Olivia Zink, Franklin City Council member and Coalition for Open Democracy executive director. “If one falls, we count by hand.”
Zink, who will work at her local polling station Tuesday, said she is less concerned about hand counting even if turnout is high among the 4,500 registered voters because the ballot only includes the presidential primary. She advised patience if findings are delayed. Damp ballots might jam a ballot scanner in the snow or rain. Zink: “If it's a sunny, beautiful day, we're in great shape.
The ballot's single race and the requirement that vote counting continue uninterrupted reduce the likelihood of a large interruption. Later this year, New Hampshire will conduct state and local primaries.
All New Hampshire voters mark their votes by hand, although city and town counts vary. Though among the state's least populous, well under half hand count for years. Most state ballots are tallied electronically using AccuVote scanners in the most populated cities with machine tabulators.
Verified Voting, a nonpartisan nonprofit that studies U.S. voting technology, says five other states employ the same ballot scanners. You may call it rudimentary technology. Simple, trustworthy technology. Policy and strategy director Mark Lindeman said both can be true
He said New Hampshire's tabulators are in good shape and election officials' main difficulty is sourcing new components. He imagines local election officials hand-counting if a tabulator fails and they have no backup.