With midterm elections right around the corner, election officials says they’re focused on putting contingency plans in place so voting can continue even if systems are disrupted. Edgardo Cortés, the former Virginia Commissioner of Elections and current Election Security Advisor at the Brennan Center for Justice, said he is focused on low-tech plans to ensure voting continues to take place. These plans include having enough provisional ballots and having a back-up paper poll book at each voting location — “things that will keep the process going and allow people to vote even if we end up with a worst-case situation,” Cortés said at a Sept. 24 Brennan Center event.
Brenda Cabrera, the City of Fairfax’s general registrar and director of elections, voter registration and elections, said her city is using paper ballots in the November election after Virginia issued rules last year requiring all localities to do so.
Fairfax also plans to download things like the voter rolls ahead of time so election officials will still be able to service voters even if system or connectivity issues are encountered.
Full Article: Paper backups and audits: Officials preparing for midterms — GCN.