Feb. 14 Summit County Board of Elections meeting
Covered by Documenter Wittman Sullivan (see his notes here)
A new live election results reporting platform will provide real-time updates to the public for the upcoming May primary election in Summit County.
On Feb. 14, the Summit County Board of Elections (BOE) approved a contract with elections technology provider Enhanced Voting for the May 6 primary. If the platform performs well, the BOE may consider extending the contract for a one- or four-year term.
In the meeting, BOE Deputy Director Pete Zeigler emphasized the importance of public trust in election reporting. “It’s important that people trust our output,” he said, explaining that prompt and clear election results help build confidence in the process.
Why does Summit County need a new reporting platform?
Enhanced Voting’s platform and software will allow the BOE to report more detailed and timely results. Previously, due to limitations with the election technology vendor Tenex, partial results could not be shared. This meant that the BOE couldn’t release a precinct’s results until all memory sticks from the voting machines had been uploaded.
The new platform will enable precinct-level reporting as votes are tabulated. Results will be clearly marked as “partial” until each precinct is fully counted. Results will be viewable by the public and the media on the BOE’s website.
BOE staff cited Enhanced Voting’s responsive customer service as a key factor in its selection, noting the company’s willingness to provide on-site support on Election Day.
November election reporting delays
The change follows delays in reporting results during the November general election, partly due to a high volume of absentee ballots received on Election Day.
While BOE staff can begin tabulating absentee ballots that arrive before Election Day as soon as polls open, ballots submitted on Election Day before the 7:30 p.m. deadline are among the last to be counted.
The new platform will allow the BOE to share partial results without waiting for all precinct votes, including absentee ballots, to be tallied.
Read Documenter Wittman Sullivan’s notes here: