Keeping your vote safe

With election integrity under a continuous spotlight, we appreciated a recent opportunity to see how county election boards keep votes safe and secure. Late last month, the Huron County board of elections conducted testing of its ballot machines. Called "logic and accuracy" testing, it's a requirement for all county election boards prior to elections, like the primary happening on May 5. Toward the end of last month, the elections board let a reporter watch how the process unfolded. Basically, it's a stress test of the machine to ensure it operates as it should under all potential circumstances and variables it could encounter on Election Day. Does the machine properly detect if a ballot contains too many selections — say, if a voter is supposed to fill a circle for one candidate but selects two? And equally important, does each machine count each ballot as it's supposed to, to ensure each person's vote is recorded? If the answer to that, or any number of potential issues, is "no" — and none of Huron County's machines encountered errors during the testing — then the machine must be taken out of service and not used in an election until the problem is corrected. It was an interesting process to watch, and we're glad we got a look behind the curtain of how local election officials ensure democracy operates without a hitch, as intended. Early voting open Speaking of elections, early voting is now open for the May 5 primary. It can be done between Monday and Friday at your local board of elections office: • Erie County: 2900 Columbus Ave., Room 101, Sandusky • Huron County: 180 Milan Ave., No. 4, Norwalk • Ottawa County: 8444 W. Ohio 163, No. 101, Oak Harbor • Sandusky County: 2020 Countryside Drive, Fremont Here is a list of times to vote early: • April 7-10: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • April 13-17: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • April 20-24: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. • April 27: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. • April 28: 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. • April 29 to May 1: 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. • May 2: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. • May 3: 1-5 p.m.