Separated by 40 miles of water, the territory’s two boards of elections spent Friday testing and certifying voting machines in preparation for party primaries coming up Sept. 11.
Both boards called meetings to order shortly after 10 a.m. and then, with the assistance of private companies contracted to give technical service with the electronic devices, went through a simple, multi-step checklist with one machine after another.
"For today, the board members randomly selected machines for testing," said Raymond Williams, chairman of the St. Croix Board of Elections. "The contractor pulls them out based on their serial numbers, we insert the cartridges and go through the whole process."
Although only a sampling were tested today, each machine will be tested under the observation of one or more board members, he said.
On St. Croix, Patrick Phillips, the owner of P and P Communications, opened up the machines, setting them up with a ballot and guiding board members through the testing procedure.
"It’s a matrix, where the intersection of, like 6-C, is the particular candidate," Phillips said, placing a ballot on the machine, lining it up over a grid of lights and buttons. "We make sure the light is lined up to the upper left hand corner of the candidate’s check box."
Board member Lisa Moorhead performed the first test-vote, signing her name on the paper backup roll through a little window on the front of the machine, then selecting a series of candidates. The process has to be repeated for each party. Voters register by party, getting blue, white or yellow cards for Democrats, Republicans and ICMers, respectively. Based on the card’s color, poll workers flip a switch limiting choices by party.
Once Moorhead’s actual votes were compared to both the electronic and paper records in the machine, Phillips closed it up.
"At this point in the testing we seal the back," he said, putting a green plastic seal on the latch. "Also, we check the vote counter. … There is no way to cast a vote without changing the counter number. It keeps a lifetime record of total votes on the machine. We record the total after the tests and keep track of the beginning and ending totals."
Several seals are placed, as each component is checked, then closed up.
"So at the polls … if there are any flaws in any of the seals, they are told not to use that machine," Phillips said.
It took about 10 minutes to check the first machine, with subsequent ones taking a little less time. The cartridges that record votes electronically are assigned to a specific machine, and if one is inserted in the wrong machine it will give an error code, Phillips said. Before the cartridge is installed into each machine, the respective district board certifies that there are no votes in the cartridge and it is ready to accept votes. Each machine has a 12-hour backup battery that kicks in as soon as the power goes off.
The machines used currently were made by Shouptronic and were bought in the late 1980s. They were retrofitted a few years ago to accommodate the visually impaired. Now, rather than needing assistance, the visually impaired can cast their votes in private and independently by using a specialized hand-held remote control and headphones.
Over on St. Thomas, the process was much the same.
"The testing went at a quiet, normal and ordinary pace," said Lorna Thomas, chairwoman of the St Thomas Board of Elections, Friday afternoon. "We have 70-plus machines to test, with 15 handicapped accessible ones, and each has to be individually certified."
The process, while necessary, is time-consuming, she said.
"Each machine is a standalone; there is no way to connect them together or to any sort of network. You have to open up and certify each one separately," she said.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. for the primary election Sept. 11. For polling locations and other election information, see the Elections System website at vivote.gov or call 773-1021, 774-3107 or 776-6535.
