By Axios | Created at 2024-10-27 12:39:32 | Updated at 2024-10-27 15:31:24
2 hours ago
From GPS tracking devices on boxes carrying ballots to counting centers with 24-hour livestreams and big windows for public viewing, officials nationwide are working to boost transparency — and confidence — in the Nov. 5 election.
Why it matters: The moves — along with pre-election tours and open houses of the counting centers — are among the latest tactics officials are using to try to convince voters that elections are fair and secure.
- In this era of pervasive misinformation, the changes are an effort to counter conspiracy theories surrounding the election — even though granting voters more visibility into ballot counting could foster new conspiracy theories.
- And there are concerns over whether the efforts to promote transparency could be "weaponized by losing candidates," David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said during a media briefing.
Driving the news: In Pinal County, Ariz., the state's fastest-growing county, the transparency reboot involves a new $32 million, 53,000-square-foot election headquarters that includes a "fishbowl" where members of the public can have a 360-degree view of ballots being processed.
- The new facility is partly an effort to restore voter trust after the county's 2022 primary and general elections were marred by errors.
- Dana Lewis, the Pinal County recorder, said her team has given tours of the new facility to show the public how the vote counting works.
- "They leave reassured," Lewis said during a roundtable hosted by the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions.
Fulton County, Ga., one of several big swing-state counties that could decide the election, moved into a new hub last year with an open floor plan, allowing voters to "come in and observe," said Nadine Williams, director of registration and elections in Fulton.
- Georgia was at the center of false claims by former President Trump and his allies that the 2020 election was stolen. (Trump was indicted in Georgia over his efforts to subvert election results there.)
Zoom in: In Palm Beach County, Fla., the elections office has a Virtual Elections Experience Tour, where voters can see how the process works, said Wendy Link, the county's supervisor of elections.
- "[There's] something about bringing people into your house and showing them in person that really makes a big difference," said Eric Olsen, general registrar of elections in Prince William County, Va., which held open houses for its election center.
Election offices also have increased what voters can observe online at all hours of the day. In Douglas County, Colo., there's a 24/7 livestream of ballot drop boxes available to the public.
- Michigan, another swing state, has launched a dashboard with regularly updated data on early and absentee voting trends.
State of play: The new transparency comes four years after Trump falsely claimed he lost the 2020 election because of fraud — a claim he continues to make, and that has led Republicans to be especially skeptical of the election process.
- A Pew Research Center survey out this week found that just 57% of Trump supporters are confident that the election will be run smoothly, compared to 90% of Harris supporters.
- Polling from AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last year showed that more than half of Republicans — 57% — think President Biden wasn't legitimately elected.
Zoom in: One of the biggest 2020 conspiracy theories pushed by Trump and his allies had to do with voting machines, with the former president falsely claiming that the machines were rigged against him.
- To try to debunk that conspiracy, which appears to be picking up traction again, election offices have introduced intricate tracking devices and protocols, such as GPS trackers and 24-hour video livestreams of drop boxes and the election tabulating process.
What to watch: "Election officials are going to embrace transparency no matter what," Becker said.
- "But we should expect losing candidates to weaponize it against them and to mischaracterize elements of the election process that were known to the losing candidate well before the election."
Go deeper: Courts foiling GOP's late push for election changes
