Elections officials test machines before Delaware primary

Absentee ballot counting machines go through a dry run as election workers get ready for the September 14th primary.

With less than two weeks until Delaware’s Primary Election, the Department of Elections is putting the finishing touches on its preparations for counting the vote.
Howard Sholl, deputy director of the Elections Department for New Castle County says since switching from hand counting absentee ballots to computer scanners, the chance for an inaccurate count has dropped dramatically.  Election workers tested the absentee ballot counting machines Thursday morning to make sure they were running properly.  “We do everything we can to make sure it’s done correctly and the results are accurate,” says Sholls.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePdjZJV7PW4[/youtube]
The goal of the demonstration is to show that voters can have confidence that their votes are being accurately counted.  Sholl says, “I guess our best reward is the fact that we’re not mentioned in the newspaper on the day following the election, because we have done it correctly and there are no controversies.”  Sholl says the counting process is not something that happens in secret.  Voters can even show up to watch it happen on Election Day.