‘Fair and accurate’: Johnson County officials conduct public voting machine test
Johnson County election officials on Thursday afternoon held the state-required public test of voting machines that will be used to tally results for the upcoming primary election.
Inside the warehouse of the Johnson County Election Office in Olathe, organizers and election workers set up a run of two models of vote-counting machines to demonstrate that they work as they’re supposed to. It was a smaller version of the process election officials use as they test every piece of equipment used on election day, said Election Commissioner Fred Sherman.
Along with every other county in Kansas, the Johnson County Election Office performs its public test within five days before any election. Such demonstrations have been required in one form or another under state law for 40 years.
The demonstration came as Johnson County Sheriff Calvin Hayden has made unfounded claims of election fraud. He says that his office has opened an investigation into the matter, but election officials have repeatedly stood by the integrity of the process.
Asked directly about the sheriff’s office investigation, Sherman said his office was cooperating and is currently focused on conducting elections in Johnson County.
“We are doing our jobs of administering elections. That’s all I really have to say about that,” Sherman said.
Meanwhile, record turnout is expected in Johnson County this year amid the countywide contest for Johnson County Commission Chair as longtime Chairman Ed Eilert has decided to retire. Voters will narrow the pool of candidates from four to two on Tuesday ahead of the general election.
Also expected to drive voters to the polls is the constitutional amendment ballot question that would remove the right to an abortion from the Kansas constitution.
As of Thursday morning, Sherman said roughly 62,000 of the county’s 456,000 registered voters had turned in early ballots. He estimated that the county could see as high as 50% turnout after all is said and done.
Of Thursday’s test, Sherman said the outcome shows that the machines are calibrated correctly and there is a system in place to gather “fair and accurate results.”
