Delaware County, Pennsylvania, to test ballot machines for all 428 precincts before Election Day
CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) – Election Day is coming up in just 42 days. This week, poll workers are testing the ballot machines for all 428 precincts in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.
Technician Damaar Moon is among those responsible for testing the equipment at Delaware County's voting machine warehouse in Chester.
"I'm very excited," Moon said. "I love what I do. I love the people I work with. I'm very passionate and grateful."
On Tuesday, workers practiced taking the equipment out and opening the polls. They went through scanning the ballots, confirming the results and closing the polls.
Elections Director Jim Allen from the Delaware County Bureau of Elections said Pennsylvania law requires every county to go through this process, which is called logic and accuracy testing.
"Today we're training our workers on how to perform those tests," Allen said. "The actual testing of the voting equipment will begin tomorrow."
Once polls close on Election Day, scanning machines will tally the votes. Poll workers will lock the ballot boxes and send them to the government center in Media. The seal on the ballot boxes cannot be broken unless there's a special circumstance like a recount.
Allen said Election Day is like a marathon.
"We'll work probably, in many jurisdictions, 25 to 30 hours straight trying to get through both the precinct voting on Election Day, the results on election night, and any mail-in or absentee ballots," Allen said.
The goal is to have a smooth Election Day, but there's always a chance of problems. That's why Moon said he'll be on standby Nov. 5.
"I'm going to be roving out on the streets providing technical supports for precincts in need," Moon said.
Once all the ballot machines are done being tested on Thursday, they'll be put back into the cages and locked up. The equipment will be shipped out to the precincts three days before the election.
