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The 2024 Presidential election is prompting voters to the polls, and Bexar County is on track for a record-breaking turnout. But what happens after a voter casts their ballot?
“They slide it in (the DS200), all of our units take a picture of both sides of (the ballot), then it drops down into a sealed ballot box,” said Jacque Callanen, the Bexar County Elections Administr ator.
The DS200 is a ballot scanner where voters submit their ballots, and it stores all the information from each voter until the end of early voting. The machine then provides election officials with two USBs with the numbers from each of its polling locations.
“The officials at the end of early voting (will) break the seals and bring those in (for) us in a sealed container; chain of custody we follow to the letter,” Callanen said.
The newly sealed USBs are then driven to the Bexar County Elections Office. They must be signed in and passed on to the Bexar County Elections Administrator, who puts them away in the elections office vault.
The process continues after the end of early voting, Callanen said.
“We will have the central personnel there, and we will start entering those jump drives into our election ware where it goes, and it tabulates them all, but again, we can’t push the button,” Callanen said. “We cannot do that until after the polls are closed on Election Day.”
All early voting USBs must be taken to the elections office. However, they can also be taken to one of five regional sending locations in Bexar County, which helps speed up the process and reduces the need for all election officials to travel downtown.
Callanen emphasized trust in election officials regarding the county ensuring proper handling and sealing of the USBs.
“We trust our officials,” Callanen said. “We have party people with us, and they’re our watchdogs. They participate in it, and we have poll watchers that are available that can come in,” she said.
Given the outstanding turnout, Callanen urged voters to be patient at this year’s election.