‘We’re completely isolated’ — Bexar County election workers stress security when counting votes
Elena Guajardo, with the Bexar County Elections Department, details necessary info to put on a voter registration form during a tour of the headquarters Friday, Sept. 16, 2022.SAN ANTONIO — The doors of the Bexar County elections headquarters were thrust open Friday by Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen in hopes ofIn two separate tours, leaders from both sides of the political aisle were allowed a walk through the heart of the elections headquarters Friday near downtown.
Even the room where mail-in ballot counting via tabulation machines was on display — a space that is and will be completely cut-off digitally from the outside world. James Huerta, who works with the elections database, said the results are tabulated via five machines at the center of the room. The only way to move that data to the next step of the process is via a USB dongle, which is kept under a strict chain of custody.
“Contrary to what you have heard on other media outlets or from activists in town, this is a standalone room,” Huerta said. “The reports you hear about elections getting hacked is almost impossible because there is no connection from this room to the outside. We’re completely isolated.”Mail clerk Steve Heinrich demonstrates the"smoosher," a press used to flatten voter registration and ballots that arrive crumpled or crinkled to the Bexar County Elections Department.
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