close
close

KY officials respond after video of voting machine error goes viral

KY officials respond after video of voting machine error goes viral

play

Investigators with the Kentucky Attorney General's Office responded to a vote center in Laurel County on Thursday after a video showing a ballot machine selecting the wrong option gained attention online.

Rumors about the issue erupted after a voter posted a video of himself tapping the machine's screen to select former President Donald Trump for the presidential election. After tapping on Trump's name several times, Vice President Kamala Harris' name is finally highlighted in green, indicating an incorrect selection.

Laurel County Clerk Tony Brown addressed the issue in a statement, saying the machine was temporarily taken out of service while an investigator from the attorney general's office was called to inspect the machine. Investigators tried to reproduce the anomaly and were able to do so after spending several minutes tapping the area of ​​the screen between the Trump and Harris fields, Brown said.

Despite further attempts, investigators were unable to recreate it a second time, Brown said.

“The Kentucky Attorney General’s Criminal Investigation Division responded quickly to the Laurel County complaint. Investigators contacted the county clerk and recommended replacing the voting machine,” Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a statement. “All Kentucky voters can have confidence that our elections are secure and any potential problems will be resolved quickly.”

Brown emphasized that the malfunction occurred on a ballot machine that does not process votes. Marking machines allow voters to make their choice on their ballot and then physically print it out so it can be cast and counted.

If the machine prints an incorrect ballot, voters can discard it and print a corrected one, Brown said.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, in a statement on social media, dismissed suggestions that the machine's malfunction could indicate election malpractice.

“There is no 'change of voice'. “The voter confirmed that her ballot was printed correctly and marked for the candidate of her choice. Get your election information from reputable sources,” Adams wrote.

Along with his statement on social media, Brown also posted a video of himself selecting various options on the same device that was supposedly easily shown in the viral video.

“I hate that something like this happened here in Laurel County. We strive for the accurate, safe and secure elections that we are proud to offer our citizens,” Brown wrote.

You may also like...