In Colorado’s most populous county, Denver, more than a quarter-million ballots have gone through a secured counting room at Denver Election headquarters on Bannock Street in downtown Denver. And they’re far from being done: ballot counting and processing is still going on in several counties around the state, including Jefferson and Denver.
The Colorado Independent took a quick look at the counting process in Denver with elections spokesman Alton Dillard.
With technology improving by the year, counting has changed a lot, even in the last few years. In the past, Dillard explained, the old counting room had machines the size of cars.
This year, Denver, and 17 other counties, tried out a new voting system, designed by Dominion Voting Systems. Denver did its try-out for the primary and the presidential election was its second test.
Why the change? Why now?
Voting systems have a shelf-life of only about 10 years. Colorado’s voting systems were replaced more than a decade ago and paid for by the federal government, in order to change the nation’s way of counting ballots in the wake of the 2000 presidential election.
There’s no federal piggybank this time, and to save money, the Dominion system allows for the inclusion of off-the-shelf equipment that can be purchased in any computer or office-supply store, instead of more-expensive custom-designed equipment.
The video below shows just how ballots get counted in the Dominion system, narrated by Dillard.
