Election officials and voting experts in the United States have dismissed concerns over reports of voting machines selecting the wrong candidates, saying the incidents are often caused by accidental screen touches or calibration problems rather than deliberate interference.
The concerns have emerged as early voting continues, with videos and social media posts from states including Tennessee, Texas and Florida showing voters apparently selecting one candidate only for the machines to highlight another.
Although some of the clips have circulated widely online, officials noted that certain videos being shared are years old. They added that complaints about touchscreen voting machines registering unintended selections are not unusual during election periods.
According to experts, accidental contact with a neighbouring option, long fingernails and poorly calibrated screens can cause the machines to register selections different from what voters intended.
They also pointed to the age of some voting equipment, noting that parts of the technology were developed before smartphones became widespread and may be more prone to touchscreen problems.
Tammy Patrick, chief programme officer of the National Association of Election Officials, said the reports understandably attract public attention but stressed that safeguards are available to help voters verify their choices.
“It’s one of those things though that people have a visceral reaction to it. And it’s good that people are paying attention and that voters are noticing,” she said.
“The good news is that in all of these cases, everyone has a paper ballot that they can check and make sure,” Patrick added.
Stephen Richer, a former top election official in Arizona’s Maricopa County, said states had strengthened election safeguards over the past two decades. These include testing voting equipment before and after elections, as well as post-election audits involving manual ballot counts.
Election officials have urged voters to carefully review their selections before submitting their ballots. Federal law requires voters to have an opportunity to check their choices, while nearly every jurisdiction provides a paper record for verification.
In Duval County, Florida, election director Jerry Holland told CNN that he had received five or six complaints from approximately 30,000 people who had used voting machines over several days.
“The machine is not flipping,” Holland said, explaining that a voter’s fingernail or part of a finger could accidentally touch an option above the intended selection.
Voters in the county can either complete paper ballots or use machines that produce paper ballots for counting. Holland said the machines also come with styluses to help voters select options more accurately.
“We have full confidence that what voters are voting are the selections they truly want,” he added.
Similar complaints have been reported in Texas, where election officials attributed many incidents to calibration issues involving older touchscreen equipment.
Kristin Miles, president of the Texas Association of County Election Officials and an elections administrator in Bastrop County, said reports of alleged vote switching emerge during election cycles.
“Every election cycle, we hear a handful of reports of so-called ‘vote-switching’ on voting machines in Texas,” Miles said in a statement.
“Statewide and local officials have both repeatedly affirmed that nearly every case comes back to the screen calibration on older touchscreen machines, not a change to anyone’s vote.”
She said local and state officials routinely recalibrate screens and test equipment before and after elections.
In Tennessee, Stella Parton, sister of late country music star Dolly Parton, raised concerns after experiencing difficulties with a voting machine in Nashville. She said the machine repeatedly selected Republican gubernatorial candidate Marsha Blackburn when she attempted to make her choice.
Parton told CNN that she sought assistance from a poll worker on her third attempt before the machine registered her intended selection.
She explained that she decided to share her experience on Facebook after seeing reports from other voters who had encountered similar problems.
“When I saw other people having the same issue, it upset me. I thought you know what, go ahead and post about your own experience, because people need to know about this before they get there on voting day,” she said.
Responding to the complaints, Tennessee’s coordinator of elections, Mark Goins, told Nashville television station WSMV that the incidents were almost certainly caused by unintended touches on the screens.
“In all the situations, since I’ve been here, that’s exactly what’s occurred. It’s been a scenario where, like an unintended consequence, they may not even know it,” Goins said.
He added that voting machines in Davidson County produce printed ballots, allowing voters to check their selections. The county has also distributed coffee stirrers to help voters make more precise touchscreen selections.
Election Systems & Software, the largest election equipment manufacturer in the US, said its machines undergo extensive testing before elections to ensure they function accurately.
The company’s spokesperson, Katina Granger, said voters would not be forced to submit ballots that did not reflect their intentions.
“There is no scenario in which a voter would be forced to cast a ballot that they believe did not reflect their intentions,” she said.
Granger added that the company’s systems incorporate safeguards, including opportunities for voters to review their choices, paper records that voters can verify and post-election audits comparing results with paper ballots.
Patrick acknowledged that calibration problems can still occur even after testing, particularly when older equipment is moved to polling stations. She said machines experiencing repeated problems are generally withdrawn from service while poll workers address the issue.
“It’s not something that has anything to do with the program of the election and the candidates. It’s the way the screen itself is calibrated,” she said.
Patrick also linked the problem to inadequate funding for election administration, arguing that limited resources can prevent local authorities from replacing ageing voting equipment.
“That’s why we need to make sure we sufficiently fund our elections,” she said, “and not just think about it every four years as something that we should invest in.”
