“It’s no longer about who gets to vote; it’s about making it harder to vote. It’s about who gets to count the vote and whether your vote counts at all.”
– President Joe Biden
“It doesn’t matter how many people vote, only who counts them.”
– Joseph Stalin
Why does ballot security matter?
In America, our political power is in our vote. How we cast our ballot can decide the policies, culture, and future of America. Without ballot security, it doesn’t matter who votes, just who counts the votes. Ballot security begins with the voting equipment used, election administration laws and policies applied, and checks and balances in place to ensure elections are administered with accuracy, transparency, and integrity.
Humboldt County’s Voting System
Additional information about what voting systems California counties use for each election can be found on the Secretary of State website.
Humboldt County uses the HART Verity voting system, not Dominion.
Machines that interface with the public at the polls include Scan (machine where voters insert ballots to be counted), TouchWriter (accessible voting machine that prints a voted ballot – no ballots or votes are stored on this machine), and Print (prints a blank ballot).
On the election administration side, Election Officials use Build (to build the ballot and add ADA voice over audio), Central (to scan voted ballots for adjudication), and Count (to tabulate voted ballots and produce election reports).
Cast Vote Record
What is a cast vote record (CVR) and how does Humboldt County employ this technology for canvassing ballots? Great question.
When voted ballots are returned to the Office of Elections (via mail, polling places, ballot drop box, or hand-delivery), the voted ballot is separated from its envelope (if VBM ballot) and sorted by precinct. Groups of ballots (called batches) are scanned into Central with tracking numbers for each batch so if there is an audit or imperfection on the ballot, each ballot can be uniquely identified.
IMPORTANT: Voted ballots cannot be traced back to the voter at this point. These tracking numbers are cast vote records (CVR). The Humboldt County Office of Elections keeps a database of batch numbers tracking and tabulating ballots scanned by precinct. These records assist in forensic audits that may be requested or required and help preserve the integrity of election results.