CANYON COUNTY, Idaho — The Canyon County Elections Office held a logic and accuracy test, available to the public, to see what it takes to make sure every vote is counted before Election Day on Nov. 5.

• Early voting was popular in Canyon County, with about 2,800 voters a day.
• Early voting ends Friday, Nov. 1, but will open next Tuesday for Election Day.

(Below is the transcript from the broadcast story)

Preparations for election day are underway.

The Canyon County Elections Office is testing its equipment with a test of logic and accuracy, inviting the public to see what it takes to make sure every vote is counted on Election Day.

“It’s in the public interest to understand the equipment, so we’re dropping everything we’re doing. We’re very busy showing the public that all the equipment is working, to help answer questions, and the goal is for the public to have confidence and transparency,” said Canyon County Clerk Rick Hogaboam

As part of the process, they showed how each key system is configured and protected.

A question that arose – how are these systems protected from cyber attacks?

“As you’ve seen, it’s not just a thumb drive and a thumb drive, you have to have a key, you have to have a code, there’s double authentication, there’s protocols that ensure that the information transfer going on is not connected to the internet “. said Clerk Hogaboam

Early voting has been a popular choice so far in this election. In Canyon County, about 2,800 voters a day have the choice of casting their ballots by hand or electronically.

Tuesday’s test ensures that no matter how a ballot is cast, errors will be caught before the vote is counted.

To accommodate the growing population, Election Day will have 45 polling stations across the county this year, up from 21 in the last presidential election.

“And we’re doing this so voters have options because it’s more important to vote,” Clerk Hogaboam said.