Buchanan County prepares for secure election, accurate counting

By Chris Fortune

A heated presidential battle is driving election security to the top of the ticket for voters and Buchanan County officials charged with making sure ballots are counted accurately.

Tens of thousands of voters are expected to turn out on Tuesday, Nov. 5, for the general election in Buchanan County. Whether you’re voting early or participating in the Election Day frenzy, the process for protecting ballots looks the same.

“They’re going to approach the table where the judges are set up, and they’re going to show them a form of photo ID,” Buchanan County Clerk Mary Baack-Garvey said. “It has to be a Missouri driver’s license, non-driver’s license or government-issued ID.”

Election judges scan the IDs to ensure voters are at the correct polling place and receive the proper ballot. Once the paper is filled out, it enters a ballot machine.

“It is a sealed machine,” Baack-Garvey said. “So if the seal is ever broken, that means it’s been tampered with.”

A red seal protects a USB device where ballot information is stored, and a special key is required to open the machine and retrieve it.

“That gets plugged into our election night recording system and pumps out those reports to the public, whoever needs to see it, in just seconds,” she said.

The ballots that enter the machines at each of the 22 polling places in the county are sorted and brought back to the county clerk’s office.

It’s all part of the election certification process. Staff in the county clerk’s office hand-count all the ballots from one polling place to make sure the numbers match up with the electronic reports recorded by the machine.

The issue of election security has become a hot topic in recent years, particularly as presidential races have become especially divisive.

One St. Joseph voter who voted no-excuse absentee at the Buchanan County Courthouse last week said he doesn’t have election security concerns for Missouri, but he believes one voting option does pose a risk across the country.

“Mail-in voting is always a security problem,” Joe Zuptich said. “Most of the places in the world won’t allow it simply because of the security issues.”

However, the National Conference of State Legislatures says mail ballots are processed before they can be counted, starting with comparing signatures on a voter’s envelope to their signature on record. In Missouri, election officials may process mail ballots before the election.

Security measures like these and the work of local election judges give another St. Joseph voter the confidence that votes are secure.

“I believe, across the board, that our election officials really know what they’re doing and they know how to keep things secure,” Aaron Westlake said. “And I have faith that they are able to execute their jobs and make sure democracy is expressing itself the way that it should.”

Earlier this month, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft attended a two-day election security summit in Omaha, Nebraska. The event provided security assessments and scenarios to help prepare for ransomware, physical violence and threats from foreign adversaries.

The Department of Justice also announced this month that Teresa Moore, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, appointed Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Heberle as the district election officer. He will oversee the Western District of Missouri’s handling of Election Day complaints of voting rights concerns, a release from the Department of Justice said.

In Buchanan County, local law enforcement will also be on standby to assist in the security of the election.

“I’ve talked with our sheriff, and he is on high alert if I need him if something happens, but I feel very comfortable here in Buchanan County,” Baack-Garvey said. “I think we’re gonna be safe. It’s gonna be fine.”

Polling places will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day Tuesday, Nov. 5.