Reviewing Ford County’s Tabulation Machine Testing Process During the 2024 General Election (Limited-Scope)

Introduction

The Legislative Post Audit Committee requested this limited-scope audit, which was authorized by the Legislative Post Audit Committee at its December 16, 2024 meeting.

Objectives, Scope, & Methodology

Our audit objective was to answer the following question:

1. Did Ford County have an adequate process for testing the accuracy of tabulation machines before and after the 2024 general election?

The scope of our work included Ford County’s pre-election and post-election tabulation policies and procedures for the 2024 general election. We reviewed summary reports, tabulation machine reports, test ballots, and other documentation related to Ford County’s tabulation machine testing practices for the 2024 general election to determine if their process was adequate. We also interviewed officials from the Secretary of State’s office and reviewed state laws about pre-election and post-election tabulation machine testing.

More specific details about the scope of our work and the methods we used are included throughout the report as appropriate.

Important Disclosures

We conducted this performance audit in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. Overall, we believe the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on those audit objectives.

Audit standards require us to report our work on internal controls relevant to our audit objectives. They also require us to report deficiencies we identified through this work. In this audit, we identified a tabulation machine that processed 3 more test ballots than it should have during the post-election tabulation machine test. This issue is described in more detail later in the report.

Ford County’s testing process was generally adequate to ensure the accuracy of tabulation machines before and after the 2024 general election but wasn’t completed within statutory timelines.

Background

Counties administer elections and rely heavily on electronic equipment to conduct them.

• Each county has an election office, but these offices look and function very differently based on the county’s size.
  • In 101 counties, including Ford County, the elected county clerk is the county election officer. They and their staff are responsible for administering county elections on top of their non-election duties, like county payroll and tax assessments. Many of these processes must occur at the same time as county clerks’ election preparations.
  • Counties also use volunteers to help conduct the elections. These volunteers are called election workers or poll workers.

• Most Kansas counties, including Ford County, use electronic equipment to administer elections. This is the primary way votes are cast and counted. Electronic equipment affects every stage of the election process.
  • Polling places have voting machines called ballot marking devices. Voters can use these machines to make their selections on a touchscreen or through an accessibility device. The machine then prints a complete ballot reflecting the voter’s choices. But voters can also hand-complete paper ballots rather than use these machines.
  • Voters insert their hand- or machine-completed ballots through a separate tabulation machine called an optical scanner. These scanners read and count the ballots and store the results on election results storage media, such as a USB stick. Mail-in ballots are also scanned by tabulation machines, but at the election office rather than the polling places.
  • The election results storage media is hand carried to the county election office and plugged into the county’s election management computer. This computer aggregates all the polling places’ results and determines each race’s countywide winners.

• As part of this audit, we were asked to identify what electronic equipment Ford County used during the 2024 general election. Ford County used Dominion voting equipment and KNOWiNK poll books for its election. More details about its electronic election equipment are included in Appendix A.

State law requires counties to test their tabulation machines before and after every election.

• State law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) requires counties to perform a pre-election test and a post-election test on their tabulation machines. The purpose of testing is to ensure the tabulation machines (and other electronic equipment) are working properly before the election begins and to verify that they’re still working properly after the election ends. This audit focused on Ford County’s testing of tabulation machines and not its other voting equipment.

• Testing requirements include:
  • Tabulation machines must be tested within 5 days prior to the election for all offices and questions on the ballot. The machines must be tested again within 5 business days after canvass.
  • The tests must check for 2 items.
    • The test results should match the known (or pre-audited) testing outcome for each candidate and measure. The test results should include different vote totals for each candidate to reveal programming errors. For example, candidate A should receive 2 votes and candidate B should receive 1 vote so that the election officer can determine if the tabulation machine incorrectly flipped votes for any of the races.
    • The test results should flag ballots that include more than the allowable number of votes for a candidate and measure. This is called an overvote. Tabulation machines should exclude questions with overvotes from the final vote count.
  • Election officials must determine the cause of any error and conduct an errorless count before approving the tabulation machines.

We previously reviewed Ford County’s tabulation machine testing practices during the 2022 general election and found their practices were inadequate.

• In October 2024, we completed an audit reviewing Ford County’s policies and practices to ensure the accuracy and security of voting machines, ballots, and tabulation machines during the 2022 general election. The audit reviewed the county’s practices related to 5 main categories. One of those categories included the county’s practices for verifying the accuracy of voting machines before and after the election.

• Our previous work showed that Ford County’s pre-election and post-election tests on their tabulation machines were inadequate. For example, they did not pre-audit the test ballots they used in the tests nor check that their tabulation machines correctly rejected overvotes for each office.

• This audit is a follow up to the October 2024 audit. It is focused on Ford County’s testing practices for their tabulation machines during the 2024 general election rather than the 2022 general election.

Tabulation Machine Testing

We reviewed testing documentation for all Ford County tabulation machines for the 2024 general election to evaluate their testing process.

• We reviewed test ballots and other documentation for Ford County’s pre-election and post-election tabulation machine tests for the 2024 general election. Test ballots are the same ballots used in an election, but they are voted in a way that allows election officers to test the accuracy of the tabulation equipment. The test ballots we reviewed were stamped to identify them as test ballots. The other documentation we reviewed included a summary report from the pre-election test and totals tapes from the post-election test. We then compared the test ballots and other documentation to state legal requirements.
  • We reviewed test ballots and other documentation for all 7 tabulation machines for the pre-election tabulation machine test. We checked whether each tabulation machine processed the correct number of test ballots and whether the test results for all races included the required testing elements.
  • Our review of the post-election tabulation machine testing was more limited because of the way Ford County stores its election results.
    • We were still able to review test ballots and other documentation for all tabulation machines. We also verified that each tabulation machine processed the correct number of test ballots.
    • However, we couldn’t verify the test results for each race for all tabulation machines. That’s because Ford County doesn’t produce a summary report of the post-election test like they do for the pre-election test. The election officer told us it would require her to overwrite the official election results.
    • Therefore, we reviewed the result tape from 1 of Ford County’s 7 tabulation machines to check whether it included the required testing elements and whether it matched the pre-audited expected values. We couldn’t do this for the remaining tabulation machines because of the limited amount of time for this audit.
• The Ford County election officer also showed us a live demonstration of the testing process using 1 tabulation machine during our site visit.

Ford County performed 3 separate tests on their voting equipment for the 2024 general election using pre-audited test ballots that tested for overvote rejection.

• The Ford County election officer explained that she performed 3 tests on Ford County’s voting equipment for the 2024 general election to meet the requirements in state law.
  • A limited pre-election public test 5 days before the election. She said this test used 1 tabulation machine, 1 ballot marking device, and 1 poll pad.
  • A comprehensive pre-election test before early voting started. She said they tested all tabulation machines, ballot marking devices, and poll pads during this test.
  • A comprehensive post-election test after canvass. She said they retested all tabulation machines during this test.

• The test ballots Ford County used for all 3 tests complied with state law. They were pre-audited with expected values for each office and question that would highlight programming errors. One ballot also tested if overvotes for each office were correctly rejected by the tabulation machines. Ford County used a total of 756 test ballots for all 42 of Ford County’s polling sites during the 2024 general election.

• The Ford County election officer used test ballots that she purchased from the election vendor to complete the tests. She said this was the first election that she purchased the vendor’s test ballots. She told us she made this change to address findings from our previous election security audit.

Ford County conducted the limited pre-election public test for the 2024 general election within the statutory timeline but didn’t include all tabulation machines.

• State law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) requires tabulation machines to be tested 5 days before an election. We interpreted this to mean all tabulation machines because the test ensures they’re working properly for an election.

• Ford County completed the limited public test 4 days before the election. But the test was only completed on 1 tabulation machine.

• The Ford County election officer said the 5-day window in state law isn’t enough time to test all the election equipment and resolve any problems that may arise before voting begins. That’s why she performs 2 pre-election tests—1 about a month before the election starts on all machines and another retest during the 5-day window required by state law on a limited number of machines.

• For example, the Ford County election officer told us she identified that a tabulation machine and ballot marking device were not working properly during the comprehensive pre-election test for the 2024 general election. She said it took 2 days to order replacements and test the replacements when they arrived. She said if she had waited to complete the tests until 5 days before the election started, it would not have been enough time to resolve the issues before voting began.

• Officials from the Secretary of State’s office said they tell counties every tabulation machine should be tested before it’s used in an election. They said they also remind counties they must do a public test of the tabulation machines. However, officials told us they don’t think statute specifies how many tabulation machines should be included in the public test. For example, they said whether a county tests all machines during the public test varies based on the size of the county and the number of tabulation machines they have.

Ford County’s comprehensive tabulation machine test before and after the 2024 general election included the required elements but they didn’t conduct either test within statutory timelines.

• State law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) requires counties to test their tabulation machines 5 days before an election and repeat the same test 5-business days after canvass. We interpreted this to mean all tabulation machines because this ensures they’re working properly for an election. Canvassing is a process that occurs within 13 days after election day and confirms all valid ballots are accurately counted and included in the election results.

• Ford County included all tabulation machines in the comprehensive pre-election test. But they completed the test about a month before election day.
  • State law (K.S.A. 25-1123) allows early voting to start up to 20 days before the election, which is when Ford County started its early voting. The Ford County election officer said she needed to know if the tabulation machines were accurate before early voting started.
  • Officials from the Secretary of State’s office said all counties complete full machine testing more than 20 days before an election to ensure the equipment is ready for early voting.

• Ford County also included all tabulation machines in the comprehensive post-election test. But they completed the test 9 business days after canvass. The test was open to the public and the election officer scheduled and announced the test about a month in advance. The Ford County election officer said she was not aware of the 5-business day requirement in state law for the post-election test. She also said this would be a difficult requirement to follow. The Ford County election officer explained that she has other clerk-related duties that overlap with closing out an election such as preparing property tax abstracts for the Division of Property Valuation.

We identified 1 error during the comprehensive post-election test that wasn’t resolved by the county election officer.

• 1 of Ford County’s 7 tabulation machines ran 3 more test ballots than it should have during the post-election test. The other tabulation machines processed the correct number of test ballots during the post-election test.

• We reviewed the test ballots for that tabulation machine and determined it had the correct number of test ballots. Therefore, we don’t know what the 3 extra ballots were or why they were included in the post-election test.

• The Ford County election officer also said she didn’t know what the 3 ballots were from.

• State law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) requires an errorless count before a tabulation machine is approved. That means Ford County election workers should have identified and resolved this error before concluding the post-election test.

Other Findings

State election laws related to early voting and tabulation machine testing may need clarification.

• Statutory timelines for completing pre-election machine tests appear to conflict with timelines for starting early voting. State law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) requires that tabulators must be tested within 5 days prior to the election for all offices and questions on the ballot. But state law (K.S.A. 25-1123) also allows early voting up to 20 days before election day. This means if counties offer early voting more than 5 days before an election, they must have at least some of their tabulators tested and ready for voting before the public test required by state law.

• Statutory requirements for securing the test ballots used in the pre- and post-election tabulation machine tests are conflicting.
  • State law includes pre-election and post-election testing requirements for 2 different types of voting equipment—electronic or electromechanical voting systems like direct recording electronic systems (or DREs) and optical scanning equipment.
  • State law related to electronic or electromechanical voting systems (K.S.A. 25-4411) requires the county election officer to secure and retain test ballots. But state law related to optical scanning equipment (K.S.A. 25-4610) requires county election officers to seal and destroy test ballots after 22 months for federal elections like they are required to do with regular paper ballots.
  • Officials from the Secretary of State’s office said they think election officers should seal test ballots after the election because test ballots look like real ballots. They said sealing test ballots would help avoid confusion or allegations of misconduct. But officials said they didn’t give guidance to counties on this topic during the 2024 general election.

Recommendations

1. The Ford County election officer should develop a process or checklist and strengthen its training to ensure they identify and resolve errors found during pre-election testing and post-election testing of its tabulation machines.
   • Agency Response: I will make sure that I do the post-test within 5 business days after the canvass. I will come up with a way to check all totals better on the post-test tapes.
2. The Legislature should consider amending state law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) to resolve conflicts between timelines for completing pre-election tabulation machine testing and preparing for early voting.
3. The Legislature should consider amending state law (K.S.A. 25-4411 and K.S.A. 25-4610) to resolve conflicts between whether and how test ballots used in pre-election and post-election tabulation machine tests are secured.

Agency Response

On February 12, 2025 we provided the draft audit report to the Ford County clerk’s office. Its response is below. Agency officials generally agreed with our findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

Ford County Clerk’s Office Response

I am a small office. Besides myself, I have 2 people that work on elections that have been with me for a year. They are still learning. When I can, I get board workers to help with the testing. 

We have a lot going on in this office besides voting at that time of the year. We will have human error.

I will continue to test my equipment. All my equipment. We must test equipment used for in-office voting before we start in-office voting. We start the testing of in-office equipment as soon as we receive programing from our vendor, which does not always come in a timely manner. We cannot get all the equipment tested in one day. Five days before Election Day is also not enough time to test all equipment as it is a very slow process to run the test ballots through the tabulators. If something should be wrong, there would not be time to get a loaner and test that loaner before Election Day. All testing is always done in public view in my office.

Appendix A – Ford County’s Software Versions

This appendix lists the software version information for Ford County’s election equipment used in the 2024 general election.

Ford County used Dominion voting equipment purchased from Election Source for the 2024 general election.

• Election Management Computer Version:………5.5

• Image Cast Precinct Tabulator Version:…………….5.5

• Image Cast Central Count Version:………………………5.5

• Ballot Marking Device Version:………………………………5.5

Ford County used poll books purchased from KNOWiNK for the 2024 general election.

• Software Version: 3.5