News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The Jackson County Election Commission is offering residents a chance to test out its new MicroVote machines through December 21.
Starting in 2024, the State Legislature will require each election machine to produce a voter-verified paper audit trail. Jackson County Administrator of Elections Drew McMillan said his office wants to give people the chance to get comfortable with the new machines.
“Tennessee has, for the second year in a row, we’ve been voted the number one state in the nation for integrity, so these machines just back that up for this election cycle coming in 2024,” McMillan said.
The machines allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, McMillan said. The machines can detect malfunction and possible election fraud, and provide proof that a vote has been cast. McMillan said those who have tested out the demo machine at the open house have spoken highly of the more reliable system.
“It’s basically the same thing,” McMillan said. “The only other thing now, you used to, once you got done voting, you would press the cast vote button. Now you will verify your vote on paper and then cast your vote.”
McMillan said Jackson County will have 30 of the new MicroVote machines for the upcoming election cycle. The paper vote contains the name of the candidate and the symbol of their political party. McMillan said the machines give counties a way to double-check themselves when they count up votes during an election.
“It would just be an audit trail so that you can compare votes that you have,” McMillan said. “So many votes on the machine versus so many votes on paper.”
You can tryout the machines at the Election Commission Office on the first floor of the Jackson County Court House during normal business hours. McMillan said the most important thing is making sure that citizens feel like their votes count.
