FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Elections are just around the corner. The primary elections are on March 5.
Wednesday, the Forsyth County Elections Office began pre-election testing for all of its voting machines.
County boards of elections are required by state election law to conduct a pre-election test, also known as Logic and Accuracy (L&A), of all voting systems to be used in each election. L&A testing is a collection of pre-election procedures that ensure that the voting equipment and ballots to be used in an upcoming election can properly display the ballot, collect votes, and tabulate results.
Jay Lerman, Forsyth County Board of Elections Voting Systems/Geocode Manager, said this process will take election workers about two weeks.
"All these machines, we're testing 120 of them that are going out into the field. There are 108 precincts in Forsyth County. There are 12 early voting sites, so we have to go through all of these machines and make sure that they are secure and accurate," said Jay Lerman.
State election laws require counties to ensure that the voting equipment and ballots that will be used in an upcoming election can properly display the ballot, collect votes, and tabulate results.
In Forsyth County, the Board of Election's office is opening the testing process for people to observe.
Lerman said people usually have questions about security and if the voting machines can be hacked. He said it's not possible because the machines do not use the internet and North Carolina requires paper ballots. That means if something were to happen to the machines, poll workers would be able to count the ballots still.
"We want people to be confident that their vote is counted accurately and in Forsyth County, I can say that these will be perfectly counted," said Lerman.
After the primaries, workers run an audit to ensure everything is accurate.
"Following the election, this is the pre-election testing, we do an audit to make sure that they were counting correctly on the sites so they are secure and they are accurate," said Lerman.
In Guilford County, the board of elections has not started testing machines yet, but when they do, it will also be open to the public.
Now is the time for you to get prepared before the primaries.
Check your registration and ensure you're registered with the party you want to be affiliated with.
Be sure to look at a sample ballot and have an idea of who the candidates are and be sure to have a photo ID in time for the election.
There are three ways to vote: Early in person, in person on Election Day, or vote by mail.
The dates to remember are:
Jan. 19, 2024: County boards of elections begin mailing absentee ballots to eligible voters who submitted an absentee ballot request form.
Feb. 9, 2024: Voter registration deadline.
Feb. 15, 2024: In-person early voting begins.
Feb. 27, 2024: Absentee ballot request deadline.
March 2, 2024: In-person early voting ends.
March 5, 2024: Primary Election Day.
March 5, 2024: Absentee ballot return deadline.
Volunteers are needed for both Guilford and Forsyth County.
Also, be sure to call your board of elections office to schedule an appointment if you want to observe the voting machine testing process.