GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. — Whether you’re voting in-person or by mail, your vote needs to be counted.
Optical scanners do much of the work these days and before they’re put into service, Florida law requires a test.
Clay County performed that test in public view Friday in Green Cove Springs.
The accuracy included tabulators that will be used at precincts and for mail-in-ballot counts at the main election office. The process starts with test ballots that have been filled-out and accounted for.
Put through machines, the count must match in order for the equipment to pass. Clay County Supervisor of Elections Chris Chambless told the On Your Side team there’s no room for error.
“It shows that these machines attain not a 99.9 percent but 100 percent accuracy," Chambless said. "There cannot be any deviation.”
The 14 machines tested Friday represent about 10 percent of all of Clay County’s tabulators. Chambless said the machines performed without error.
“Once this equipment is tested and certified it will be sealed and locked and put in cages for delivery out to the polling locations," Chambless said.
In-person early voting in Clay County begins Oct. 19.