The Kenton County Board of Elections will use training machines to showcase the county’s voting technology, according to statements from Board of Elections Chair Gabe Summe at the board’s meeting Monday morning.
The Board of Elections voted late last year to allow the public to examine voting machines at a special presentation, which the board scheduled for Feb. 24.
At the time, Summe said that she proposed the idea to allay fears about election fraud. She hoped opening and displaying the machines in public would allow people to see that they lacked modems or other means of connecting to the internet, per Kentucky statute.
Between then and Monday, Summe said that conversations with the county’s vendor, Electronic Systems & Software, had indicated that opening the actual machines used for voting would void their warranties. So, instead, Summe recommended using the training machines. She added that the county would have presentations and photos on hand, explaining the machines’ mechanics for people who had questions.
“I want people to be able to really look and see that there’s nothing in there,” Summe said.
The board confirmed their plans to showcase the machines at Monday’s meeting. The presentation will take place on Saturday, Feb. 24, as originally planned, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon at the Kenton County Government Center on Simon Kenton Way.