Elections

ELECTION SECURITY

IN-PERSON VOTING

Some voters prefer to vote in-person on election day, or require accommodations to assist them with voting. Salt Lake County operates Early and Election Day vote centers throughout the county to make it easy to vote in person. At vote centers, voter cast their ballot using touch screen voting machines. Audio and tactile assistance devices are available at each vote center for those who may need them.

Voting machine integrity is protected in several ways:

Voting machines are designed for election use only and are not able to connect to the internet.

Before going out to vote centers, each machine is tested to make sure it is operating correctly. After testing, its memory is wiped, all ports are closed with tamper evident seals, and it is placed in a secure case for transportation to a vote center.

Wherever a voting machine is stored, whether at the Election office, at a vote center, or while being transported, it is secured to prevent tampering.

During early voting, or on election day, voters are checked-in by poll workers who confirm their identity and eligibility to vote by comparing their personal identification to the voter registration database. They are then given a voter access card to vote on a voting machine.

After entering their choices on the voting machine, voters are asked to review the choices both on screen, and on the printed paper trail. Once they have confirmed their choice, their ballot is recorded on an encrypted flash drive in the voting machine and printed on a paper backup copy. That paper copy will be used later when the election is audited.

When the polls close, the flash drives and paper copies are placed in secure containers, sealed, and transported by teams of two police officers to the Election office for tabulation.