Ballot security is a topic voters continue to debate. TMJ4's Lighthouse team talked to early voters with differing opinions on the issues and the security of the election process.
"I've been voting all my life and I've never come across any nonsense," said one man who was waiting outside Milwaukee's Capitol Drive Voting Center. "It's not how many votes you get, it's who counts the votes," said another voter who had just cast an early ballot at Whitefish Bay Village Hall.
In Whitefish Bay the village clerk, Jaimie Krueger, says early voter or absentee ballots are stored securely until they can be counted on election night. "I trust the process that we have in place, I trust the results getting to where they need to go, and that they're accurate," she added.
When polls close on November 5, Krueger and other Whitefish Bay election workers, will use four voting machines, stationed at each of the village's polling sites, to report unofficial results, electronically, to Milwaukee County.
"A results tape is printed which shows you — this many votes for this person, this many votes for this person," explained Krueger. "And then from there, they would modem the results over to the county."
Watch: Whitefish Bay's election clerk explains how your vote gets counted
Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and West Allis use encrypted USB drives to physically deliver results to Milwaukee County election officials. Whitefish Bay, and all other municipalities in the county, use the modem system on election night.
TMJ4 had questions about how that system is kept secure. The Milwaukee County Clerk and Milwaukee County Elections Director both denied our request for an on-camera interview, but provided a written overview of the modem process.
It says the system operates on a "private mobile network" with "no public internet access" and has added layers of security including firewalls and encryption to protect the data from external threats.
On her end, Krueger says the modem process is tested twice ahead of election day —and you can come view it yourself. "I think it's just the transparency," she said in response to being asked why the public is invited to the test run. "Once we get people in here and show them the process I think some of the skepticism does go down."
Find out where to vote, what's on your ballot, and much more on TMJ4's elections page here.
Official Statement from County Clerk George Christenson and Elections Director Michelle Hawley:
“In Wisconsin, every ballot cast in Milwaukee County is a paper ballot. This ensures that a tangible official record exists for every ballot, which can be reviewed during the election process and in post-election audits or recounts.
After the polls close on election night, poll workers print results tapes from each tabulator. Then, secure cellular modems are used to electronically transmit that same data to the county to efficiently report unofficial election results. This method was implemented as part of Milwaukee County’s Voting Equipment Initiative, which began in 2015 when the County approved $1.8 million for new election machines across the county's 19 municipalities. Election Systems & Software (ES&S) was selected as the vendor.
Some municipalities use high-speed tabulators that do not have modeming capabilities. Those cities will physically deliver encrypted USB drives containing the unofficial election results directly to county election officials on election night, another secure method of delivering data.
Security Measures: The modem system operates on a private mobile network designed specifically for secure election environments, with no public internet access. Each modem is authenticated with a unique code, and the data transmitted is encrypted and isolated from external threats. Firewalls and secure network protocols further enhance security, and these systems are thoroughly tested before both federal and state certifications.
While unofficial results are electronically transmitted on election night, the official certification of results is done at the conclusion of canvassing, a thorough audit-like process conducted after each election. This ensures that every vote is accurately counted, and official results are confirmed.”
Cost and Maintenance: Milwaukee County pays approximately $70,000 per year for the renewal of applicable software and firmware licenses, maintenance, and onsite support, which varies from year to year depending on the number of elections held.”
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