Going through multiple provisions, Williamson County Administrator of Elections Chad Gray said he and others assure every vote counts.
This week, Republican nominee for president Donald Trump alluded on Twitter the entire process was “rigged.” He kept that same stance during Wednesday night’s vote.
His running mate Gov. Mike Pence said Trump will accept the results of the election regardless; however, Trump said he would wait until Election Day to decide.
“What I’ve seen is so bad,” Trump said on the debate stage. “The media is so dishonest and so corrupt. It’s so dishonest. They poison the mind of the voters. I think the voters have seen through it. If you look at your voter rolls, you will see millions of people who are registered to vote who shouldn’t be registered to vote. She should never been allowed to run. It’s rigged.”
Both state election officials and those here locally said they have the bipartisan process in place to detract from that happening.
“I hesitate to call somebody irresponsible, but anything that causes people to have less confidence in being able to go vote, I frown upon, regardless of what party that comes from,” Secretary of State Tre Hargett said.
Before residents cast nearly 5,836 ballots on Wednesday, all of the machines sat at zero. The Williamson County Election Commission has both a Republican and Democratic machine technician who look into this process.
“We have electronic means, and there’s a lot of documentation and paperwork that goes along with keeping the way the votes are counted,” Gray said. “We have all sorts of record keeping and auditing. We have lots of checks and balances. There are lots of people who witness what we do in a bipartisan manner.”
Once residents start voting, technicians take note of the number of votes on each machine at the end of the day. When starting a new day, they make sure nothing happened overnight – meaning the numbers should still be the same.
“We can go through a process of an audit log,” Gray said. “And it shows for each voter how they voted on that machine, and it gives those selections and what were made, and we can match it to the paperwork.”
Gray said Wednesday primarily went smoothly at the polls sans a few hiccups. He attributed that to the first day, knowing from past experience the days following go well.
Here’s where you can early vote:
BRENTWOOD
The Brentwood Library
8109 Concord Road Brentwood, TN 37027
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
FAIRVIEW
Fairview Recreation Center
2714 Fairview Boulevard Fairview, TN 37062
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
FRANKLIN
Williamson County Administrative Complex (Election Commission)
1320 West Main Street Franklin, TN 37064
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
The Factory at Franklin (near Liberty Hall)
230 Franklin Road, Franklin, TN 37064
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
Williamson County Ag Expo Center
4215 Long Lane, Franklin, TN 37064
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
NOLENSVILLE
Nolensville Recreation Center
7250 Nolensville Road Nolensville, TN 37135
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays
SPRING HILL
Longview Recreation Center
2909 Commonwealth Drive Spring Hill, TN 37174
9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
Polls are open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at your designated Election Day polling place based on your residential address.
For more information, visit www.williamsonvotes.net, download the GoVoteTN voter App or call the Election Commission office at (615) 790-5711.
Emily West covers the City of Franklin, education and high school football for the Franklin Home Page. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter via @emwest22.
