Starting today, the Secretary of State’s Office will be demonstrating several new potential voting systems as it prepares to select one to replace the outdated system that it’s used for the past 35 years. Joel Watson with the Secretary of State’s Office says there are six systems the state will be testing, and all of them have a paper element to them.
“Secretary Landry would like us to have a system that looks and feels similar to the one we have now, that gives us the accuracy and the speed of technology, but includes the auditability of paper,” Watson explained.
Watson says all voting systems being tested and demonstrated are currently being used elsewhere.
“All the ones that are going to be demonstrating at the old Governor’s Mansion all have their voting machines used in some counties or states across the country,” Watson said.
Watson says in all, there are six voting systems being tested between now and September 18th, and all of them will represent a significant improvement over the state’s current voting system.
“We’ll be able to look at how each vote was cast on paper and audit each election afterwards. So that will be a huge step up from where we are now, keeping our elections safe,” Watson said.
All demonstrations will take place in the old Governor’s Mansion, and all are open to the public.
