Johnson County Election Board members go over results of the public test of election equipment on March 20, 2024, at the county courthouse.
Daily Journal File Photo
Results from Johnson County’s primary election will be analyzed as part of a risk-limiting audit next month.
The three-member Johnson County Election Board unanimously approved a resolution Thursday authorizing the county to take part in a post-election audit performed by the Voting System Technical Oversight Program. VSTOP is a Ball State University program where technicians test all of the election equipment used for an added layer of safety and security and to verify the results.
Johnson County Clerk Trena McLaughlin volunteered to have the county take part in the audit after going to a conference where VSTOP presented their 2024 audit plans, she said.
For the primary election, VSTOP technicians want to audit five counties’ election equipment and results. This includes auditing both Democratic and Republican county-wide, state-wide and federal races, according to a VSTOP information packet provided by McLaughlin.
This is the first time Johnson County has ever taken part in VSTOP, McLaughlin said. It is not required to take part, but she had heard good things about the program from other Indiana county clerks who have taken part before.
“They love it because it’s showing the voters that, OK, this process does work. Everything’s on the up-and-up,” McLaughlin said.
During the audit, VSTOP technicians will look at machines and results from different precincts across the county. County election officials will pick the precinct audited; once a precinct gets to the percentage where everything is matching what it is supposed to be, then they’ll move onto another precinct, McLaughlin said.
No paper ballots will be analyzed as part of the audit, she said.
VSTOP technicians say completing a post-election audit is the “gold standard” to externally affirm the accuracy and legitimacy of the county’s election outcomes. It gives county election administrators another piece of integrity evidence to share with voters, according to the handout.
It also allows voters a way to become more engaged in the election process and can increase voter confidence, the handout says.
“It’s important so that voters see how the process works with voting on machines, with voter confidence [to show] that our elections are safe, they are secure and they are accurate,” McLaughlin said.
The audit is performed in public, and the public can attend to watch the process, McLaughlin said.
Johnson County’s audit is set for June 3, and is set to take up most of the day — though McLaughlin thinks it will be shorter than that. An exact location and time are still being determined, but she expects it to take place at the Johnson County Courthouse in Franklin, she said.
