Voting machines tested ahead of primary election

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – With the primary election approaching, state elections officials are preparing by testing vote-counting equipment.

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The Office of Elections held a logic and accuracy test Saturday at the State Capitol to ensure the system is counting ballots correctly.

Official observers got test ballots, marked them, and then ran them through the counting machine to test accuracy and ensure the machines are programmed correctly.

Elections officials said removing human error from vote-counting is important.

“Machines are accurate, machines are objective. Anytime you add humans, you got the element of human error,” said Scott Nago, Hawaii’s chief elections officer.

Nago said the count is monitored by official observers representing political parties and the public.

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“Everything we do in the counting process is under the watch of official observers who are members of the eyes and ears of the political parties, the public, anybody who is interested in the elections,” he said.

“It’s just organized chaos. And we’ve done it so many years. It’s really, we’ve gotten used to it,” Nago added.

Primary election ballots have begun going out in the mail to Hawaii voters and are expected to arrive by Tuesday.

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All ballots for the primary election must be received by 7 p.m. Aug. 8.