SLO County’s new high-speed ballot machine could accelerate election results

The San Luis Obispo County Clerk-Recorder’s Office has upgraded to a high-speed ballot-counting machine that could quicken election results.

The machine, called the Dominion Hipro, counts ballots about three times faster than the office’s older models. The Hipro is being used alongside two older machines to process ballots more efficiently.

Erin Clausen, with the Clerk Recorder’s Office, said the Hipro could improve result times, specifically by counting mail-in ballots more quickly. These ballots can arrive up to a week after election day.

“We have a few weeks to get that done, and this will probably speed up that process,” Clausen said. “It will also probably help us be a little quicker on election night, as well, which is when we are tabulating all of the ballots cast at the polls that day.”

The new machine is housed in an expanded ballot-counting room, where the public can observe the process behind glass.

The County Board of Supervisors approved the new machine in July. At the meeting, some community members voiced concerns about hacking and fraud.

The Clerk-Recorder’s Office said each machine is certified for accuracy.