N.H.’s David Scanlan on Midterm Elections: Voting Machines Is an Area Where There Are Issues and Conspiracy Theories Raised

EXCERPT:

SCANLAN: “Voter turnout is directly tied to voter confidence. The voters have to believe that their election process works. And if they do, they're going to turn out to vote. But if they believe that, that exercising that right is too difficult, that it's being suppressed, that they think the results are being changed, they're less likely to do that. Some believe that if it's too easy to vote, that the people that are participating in the election, that may be participating in the election, might not be qualified. And when both of those things happen, it's a problem. The trick is to find the balance between making sure that a voter can easily exercise their right to vote, but at the same time, making sure that those participants are qualified, are tugging at each other, and the trick is to find that balance point in the middle, which is not an easy thing to do, as you can see by the discussion that has taken place up here. But above all, transparency is also incredibly important. Voters have to be able to see and understand how that process is working. And if you look at the areas that are difficult for voters to see, voting machines, for one, is an area where there are issues and conspiracy theories raised about what's happening with those machines, absentee ballots is another, because the absentee ballot leaves the possession of the town clerk, it goes out there, and at some point it comes back and voters don't actually know what happens in between.”