CHICAGO URBAN DAILY
CHICAGO (CHICAGO URBAN DAILY)— With Election Day one day away, Chicago election officials are answering the rumors head-on: your vote is not being switched, and the machines are not online.
The Chicago Board of Elections says it is responding to misinformation spreading on social media claiming votes were flipped from one party to another on electronic voting machines. Officials say they have received no reports of that happening — and they say the machines are not connected to the internet, which eliminates the threat of remote hacking.
The safeguards, officials say, are physical as much as digital. Access to voting equipment is restricted. Machines are stored in locked areas, sealed in containers, and watched by video surveillance. Every move the equipment makes is documented.
“The access to voting equipment here is restricted,” said Chicago Board of Elections representative Julie Metea. “It’s stored in locked areas and sealed in containers with video surveillance. And we do document the movement and the control of the voting equipment so we know who accesses it, we know it’s sealed, we know the location it’s at through its entire life.”
Technical staff test each of the city’s 1,200 machines daily for accuracy, and run diagnostics with the vendor, Liberty Vote. Audits required by federal and state election authorities add another layer of oversight.
The spotlight is national as well: the U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to send election monitors to all 50 states.
Polls open Tuesday, November 3, at 6 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. Voters in line by 7 p.m. can still vote. Check your polling place and sample ballot at chicagoelections.gov. And in a separate election deadline, challenges to mayoral candidates’ nominating petitions are due today, Monday.
Stay tuned to Chicago Urban Daily for Election Day coverage and results.
Reported by Chicago Urban Daily News. Visit chicagourbandailynews.com for updates.
