WALLACE — On May 3, Shoshone County elections clerk Savanna Willer conducted an accuracy test to make sure the ballot counting equipment was ready to go.

“I feel excited. It’s wonderful. Machines don’t get tired like people do, and they tabulate perfectly every time,” Willer said.

The process begins after the candidates have all filed to enter the race. Ballots are proofed in the elections office for Shoshone County and then submitted to ES&S for printing of the official ballots.

The company runs a test of the ballots before they’re mailed to the Shoshone County Courthouse in Wallace, where they’re tested again.

“You go through the report and make sure the machine is tabulating each vote correctly, and that’s what the accuracy test is for. You just have to ensure our program is tabulating the ballots correctly,” Willer said. 

In 2022, the Idaho Secretary of State elections department conducted a surprise audit of the Shoshone County results, and Shoshone County passed the audit with 100% accuracy.

The DS200 ballot scanner and vote tabulator used by the county uses digital-imaging technology for the paper ballots, only tabulating results for the correct precinct.

“You can’t put different ballots in different machines. You can’t put Murray’s ballots in Wallace’s tabulator. It would reject it,” Willer said.

Willer said the process is a straightforward one, but there has been consternation in the past over the voting process despite the state audit earning a 100% accuracy result. 

“The more people learn, the more I hope they learn they don’t need to fear the machines,” Willer said.