Hamilton Co. election workers test vote counting machines and hand counts ahead of Election Day

Bipartisan election workers pair up to make sure Tuesday's vote will be fair, secure

Bipartisan election workers pair up to make sure Tuesday's vote will be fair, secure

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Bipartisan election workers pair up to make sure Tuesday's vote will be fair, secure

Making sure voting machines match hand-counted test ballots is something that's done repeatedly at the Hamilton County Board of Elections, starting before the first batch of absentee ballots are mailed to voters.

"Then we conduct the test again, as we're doing today for the public, you know, to pull back the curtain, let people come in and be as transparent as possible," said Hamilton County Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland.

Fittingly wearing referee shirts for Halloween, Poland and the board's deputy director, Alex Linser, explained why it's important to have Democratic and Republican election workers review printed ballots.

"By showing that the hand count and the computer count match, we know that everything is functioning properly," Linser said.

"Every machine that is used in the election has logic and accuracy tests conducted on it by bipartisan election officials," Poland said.

"Honestly, the computers are very good at counting," Linser said. "It's what they do. When we have seen mistakes in the past it's usually been the human counting that makes the mistake. But in that case, we just count again until we know that we have an accurate count."

Accuracy will be paramount on Tuesday, given the high stakes of the presidential race and other down-ballot contests.

Poland knows election workers have to get things right. And she hopes voters will do their part by not getting caught in unverified claims about possible shenanigans at polling places.

"First and foremost, go to a trusted source," Poland said. "Please do not believe everything that you see on social media. We know there's a lot of mis- and disinformation that's out there. And, you know, I mean, it's sometimes — it's frustrating for election officials. I do admit that because we work so hard to ensure a free and fair election."

Election officials across Ohio have been doing the same thing — checking and double-checking the way ballots will be counted when the polls close on Tuesday. It's part of a unified effort to boost confidence in the way the Buckeye State conducts elections.

Early voting is now an option throughout Greater Cincinnati. The first no-excuse ballots were cast on Thursday in Kentucky.

In Norwood, Hamilton County's Early Vote Center is open through Sunday.