By james art MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Madison city officials welcomed members of the public Wednesday to watch the testing of election equipment that will be used Tuesday across the city.
“I think definitely with the amount of turnout and the excitement around the election, people are very anxious to see everything,” said Madison Deputy City Clerk Jim Verbick.
All 108 e-voting machines were tested on Wednesday before heading to their designated polling stations across the city by Tuesday.
“We have test ballots that have been marked in a way that we’ve determined in advance and we have an expected score, so once we submit all the ballots, then we’ll print the results strip, we’ll make sure the results on the strip match what we expected to do,” Verbick said. “If it happens, we seal it, reset the count and then get it ready for Election Day.”
Verbick says the importance of making equipment testing open to the public is about transparency.
“We do this for every election whether people show up or not, so it’s actually nice that people show up because it’s usually very quiet here.”
Madison resident Tony Arneson participated in early in-person voting and worked as an election observer.
“To make sure the voting machines are tested and accurate,” he said. “To make the election right.”
Verbick says election observers work for a number of reasons.
“Just to make sure they have their own confirmation if they’re here for a party, if they’re here for their own personal reasons to check out everything that’s going on,” Verbick said. “We’re certainly open to them being here. We are happy to answer any questions so they can watch the process.”
Arneson says it’s important, especially this election, to have election observers.
“I think it’s very important. It’s extremely important that people are out there to make sure things are done fairly and accurately,” he said.
After about five to eight hours of testing on Wednesday, the election equipment will be ready to be locked and securely stored until use on Tuesday.
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