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San Joaquin County set to vote with new elections equipment on Super Tuesday

The county is hoping to avoid glitches, especially following the Iowa Caucus, when the state experienced delays in reporting because of inconsistencies in results.

STOCKTON, Calif. — Jerard and Wanda Scheuermann have voted for more than 50 years, casting their ballots in mostly paper form. So they're a bit skeptical when new technology is introduced at the polls.

"Often there are glitches," Wanda said. "Those glitches..."

"Can eliminate a whole bunch of votes," Jerard said, finishing his wife's thought.

But that's precisely what San Joaquin County officials are hoping to avoid. Especially after the Iowa Caucus, when the state experienced major delays in reporting because of inconsistencies in results.

Election officials blamed Shadow, a new results reporting app that the Democratic Party used which only reported partial data. But San Joaquin won't be using that app. Instead, their voters will be using the Verity voting system.

Last summer, the county purchased $2.2 million worth of new scanning and batch counting equipment. To test it, mock election runs were done in December.

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On top of it all, if it's difficult to tell who someone voted for, there are what are called "adjudication stations."

"So, this is where the staff reviews the digital images of the ballots to determine voter intent," said county Registrar of Voters Melinda Dubroff, pointing to a computer set-up in the county elections office.

There are also new "touch writers" for the blind or others with disabilities unable to hand mark a traditional ballot.

Not so high-tech, but just as important, the county has several drive-up ballot locations, including one at the Lodi Senior Center at 125 S. Hutchins Street. It will be open for business again tomorrow from 10 a.m to 3 p.m.

According to the Dubroff, 80% of ballots in San Joaquin County are vote-by-mail for the March primary. And the staff of nearly 100 are already busy double-checking each ballot for errors.

"For us, it's not necessarily about speed. It's about accuracy," Dubroff said.

Despite their skepticism on accuracy, the Scheuermann's say what matters most is making their vote count.

"It doesn't stop us," Jerard said. "We have to..."

"We have to vote," Wanda said, this time finishing Jerard's sentence.

Follow the conversation on Facebook with Kurt Rivera.

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