IMAGECAST PRECINCT TABULATOR SOFTWAREIn other words, the software to layout and print the machine. IMAGECAST PRECINCT TABULATOR WINDOWSSecond, the software that enables the tabulator to read the ballots and timing marks is based on Windows XP technology. However, the chips are 1980s technology, so their contact leads are old and batteries may fail. Fortunately, the onboard firmware, physically burned onto EPROM memory chips, does not fail. First, their software has not been updated in more than a decade. Sure, AccuVote tabulators are serviceable, and technicians cannibalize mechanical parts and salvage ballot readers from other machines.īut there are two significant potential issues with Accu-Vote tabulators. The fact that any AccuVotes are even running today is a tribute to the resourcefulness and security practices of the few companies nationwide, such as LHS Associates (Salem NH), that maintain them. New Hampshire cities and towns began using AccuVote ballot counting devices (tabulators) in 1990, the manufacturer stopped making the tabulators in 2007. That’s why parents don’t let their newly licensed children drive old beaters - an inexperienced teenager driving a car with mechanical issues could spell disaster. Older cars operate less efficiently and have fewer safety features than new cars. And yet, while few of us drive 30-year-old cars on essential trips, many of us rely on 30-year-old technology to count votes.Ĭars built before the turn of the century do not have the same features as new cars do. They are critical pieces of equipment that need more care and attention as they age. Along with a final vote count tape at the end of the night that is also posted at the precinct and then returned with the tabulator, ballots, and other election-related materials to our office by the Precinct Warden and a uniformed Haverhill Police Officer assigned to that precinct at the end of the day.Automobiles and vote-counting machines have one thing in common. The machines generate a “zero tape” which is posted on the morning of the election, showing that each machine starts with no count prior to the beginning of the election. They are not connected to the internet, have no wired connections other than to a power outlet (with battery backup, also tested in advance, should power at the polling place fail). They are also secured throughout the process in the same way as the ballots. Our current voting machines were chosen via a competitive quote process, and are always tested in our office prior to an Election Day. The voting machines we use are one of two possible models certified by the Secretary of State’s Election Division. The machines were purchased from and maintained by LHS Associates. The City of Haverhill uses ImageCast 2 Precinct Tabulators at all 28 precincts. As is with every election in Haverhill, all election workers are/were sworn in, Haverhill Police Offices are/were present with the ballots throughout the day, and the entire Recount process if necessary. The ballots themselves were secure from the morning of Election Day to the end of the Recount, as were the voting machines. In fact, voters of the 3 rd Congressional District (including Haverhill) saw first hand in 2018, when the top two candidates came within 0.2% of the vote of each other, and a Recount was requested, held, and affirmed the result. If any question arises about the results we report on election night (the so-called “preliminary results”), we can pull the ballots and count them by hand. There are no touch-screen terminals connected to the internet and every ballot provides every vote with a paper trail rendering your vote unable to be hacked or changed. Every community in this state, no matter its size, uses some form of paper ballot. Some basic facts all citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts should understand.
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