Try to steal votes, public told during Tarrant elections test. Were they successful?
Aisles of steel containers, overhead fluorescent lights and the booming voices of two Marine veterans tasked with delivering a secure election, set the stage for a mock election on Thursday.
Shortly after 8 a.m attendees began trickling into the Tarrant County Election Administration warehouse, where voting equipment is stored and a few tables and chairs were set up.
The administration had invited to public to participate in the testing of voting equipment. It had conducted a similar test in 2022. Early voting for the March 5 primary begins Feb. 20.
Attendees chose six devices to be tested and then made their votes. The election team processed 16 absentee and approximately 40 in-person ballots.
Ballot board members representing Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians were also present.
As voting opened, elections administrator Clinton Ludwig encouraged those who thought they could manipulate the voting machines to attempt to do so.
There were no successful attempts.
Troy Havard, the assistant administrator, paused on multiple occasions during the voting period to demonstrate and explain how the machines and ballot boxes under them worked.
“I hope that by having representatives from the community that they are trusted messengers for everyone,” said Katherine Cano, a Democrat member of the Tarrant County ballot board. “People who come to the public test are able to go back to their communities, their neighbors, their friends, people they know, and say,’ I actually participated in this. I observed the whole process. I understand it, and I’m able to tell you in confidence that this actually does work.’”
Her colleague on the Republican side, presiding ballot board judge David Lambertsen, said he hopes the demonstration will boost voter confidence.
“What this does is create voter confidence,” Lambertsen said. “That’s what we need. There are people that, based on some things that have happened nationally, that are concerned about our voter integrity here. So this creates an opportunity to show that our systems are good and secure.”
In person and absentee ballots counted by machines were counted by hand by the attendees. The machine and hand tallies aligned.
