How safe and secure are your votes as you enter them into voting machines? Fannin County election officials say residents can trust in the system, even if they need to be careful they’ve selected the right candidates.
Fannin County clerk Tammy Biggar says the county uses HART voting equipment that has never been hacked.
“That’s really important so that people to have an assurance of their vote counting for the way that it’s been cast,” Biggar says.
So even if the machines, with their keypads and dials seem a little old-fashioned, Biggar says, they work.
If she cautions anyone on anything, it’s to be careful they aren’t doing too much at once.
“When you go to vote, make sure that you’re hitting one button at a time or that you’re spinning the wheel, but not doing both simultaneously,” she says. Doing so will most likely cause your selection to skip to the next candidate down the ballot -- which means it could select the candidate from the opposite party than you intend.
Biggar sats it’s the voter’s responsibility to make sure that their candidates have been selected before they hit that “cast ballot” button.
“Once that button’s been hit, that ballot’s gone and cannot be retrieved,” she says.
She adds that if residents have questions or think any of their selections might not have been registered properly, the election judges on-site at county polling places will always help you out -- judgment-free.
Early voting for the midterm elections begins on Oct. 22. General Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.
