Using the new optical scan voting machines which will be used for the Nov. 4 general election, Plymouth County Deputy Auditor Cheri Nitzschke shows how voters will slide in their paper ballot. [Click to enlarge]

Since around 1975, Plymouth County residents have been using machines to cast their ballots. But because the federal government wanted to have a paper trail for the election, voters will have to fill in ovals next to their candidates of choice on a paper ballot for the general election Nov. 4.

Some of the process will be the same as years before, said Plymouth County Auditor K. Kae Meyer.

Voters will enter the polling place, sign the affidavit, and confirm their address hasn't changed.

Then they'll be given a paper ballot, and asked to cast their vote in ink.

"You need to fill in the oval (by the person you are voting for) entirely as best you can because the machine reads that," Meyer said.

Even on the paper ballot, voters will have the option to vote straight-party for Republicans or Democrats, simply by filling in the corresponding oval.

Even if they select that oval, Meyer noted, they can still vote for candidates in the other party by filling in the oval next to the name.

(Advertisement)

Also, on the back of the ballot are non-partisan positions like judges. Straight-party voters, along with non-straight-party voters, will have to fill in ovals on the back if they'd like to vote for any of the non-partisan offices.

Voters always have the option to not vote in various races on the ballot.

"As long as there's one oval filled in on the ballot, it counts as an official vote," Meyer said.

Since the ballot for this election has two sides, it takes some time to read through, she noted. Voters should allow for extra time to cast their ballot.

Once they are finished filling in the ovals by their choices on the ballot, they bring the paper to the optical scan machine. The machine will "read" their answers and count them.

"They have the option to put their ballot in a secrecy sleeve before they carry it over so other people can't see their vote," Deputy Auditor Cheri Nitzschke said.

The optical scan machine has a slot to slide the ballot in to be read. The ballot can slide in face down or face up, top first or bottom first.

"If the machine takes the ballot, your vote is cast," Meyer said. "If it spits it back out, there's a screen that will say why it wouldn't take it."

It may read "blank" if the ovals weren't filled in enough or "over voted" if a voter selected too many choices for a certain race.

"If they vote incorrectly (by filling in too many ovals, for example) voters can ask for a new ballot," Meyer said. "They get three tries to vote correctly, and then they're out."

If a voter wishes to write-in a candidate, they must write that person's name on the designated line and fill in the oval next to that line. If the oval is not filled in, the vote won't be counted.

The machine will sort out ballots with write-in votes. Those will be manually counted.

Each polling site will also have an auto marking machine for people who aren't able to read the ballot.

The auto marking machine will give voters the option to have the ballot on a screen in large print or to have the ballot read to them through earphones.

The voter selects their choice by pressing a button, and this machine fills in the oval for them. When they are finished, they must take their ballot from this machine to the optical scan machine like other voters for the ballot to be counted.

Meyer said a woman in Iowa had led the push to offer the auto marking machines at each polling site. That woman had never been able to read her own ballot, but had to have someone mark it for her.

"The first time she got to do it herself was so liberating," Meyer said.

Plymouth County officials purchased the 28 voting machines with money from the state of Iowa. They bought one optical scan counting machine and one handicap-accessible auto marking machine for each of the county's 13 precincts plus an absentee ballot marking and a counting machine.

Before this, Plymouth County had used touch-screen voting machines. They did not produce a paper trail.

"People feel more secure if there's a paper trail," Meyer said.