As election day approaches, officials across the country are trying to allay concerns about election security.

One of the biggest targets of misinformation is voting machines; It’s an issue election officials want voters to know more about.

“There are some pretty wild conspiracies out there that say these tabulation machines can’t be trusted because votes are being shifted from candidate A to candidate B.” says Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who believes the best way to combat false claims is transparency.

“One of the things we can and are doing to combat disinformation is simply leading with the truth.”

In Minnesota, state law requires all voting machines to be publicly tested before Election Day.

“Anyone on the street can watch this. “And the election people who are running the election show are basically trying to deceive him.” Minister Simon said. Some of the tricks officials have tried include folding or folding the ballot, voting for more than one candidate in the same race, or making unnecessary marks on the paper.

Only after passing the test perfectly, the machines are allowed to be used. And if a voter makes a mistake on election day, the rejected ballot isn’t simply crumpled up and thrown away. St. St. Louis County Clerk and Director of Elections Phil Chapman says it’s just the opposite.

“We need to document that. So if someone makes a mistake and says we want a new ballot, we have to spoil the ballot. So we put it in an envelope and then we have to document it.”

If errors occur in the machines, there is always a backup; the ballot papers themselves.

“Everything is paper. So when someone comes in, they vote, they fill out an application on paper. We have those documents. We need to keep all these ballots. They are sealed by election judges on election night. They are sent to the county for safekeeping, and no one opens these ballots unless we do a recount or a court order is issued to open them.

Secretary Simon says he doesn’t blame anyone for having questions about the machines.

“I don’t blame them, you know, they’re not interested in all the details of day-to-day events. “But that’s the job of our office and our partners across the state to let people know so they can be reassured about the security of their ballot.”

You can find more information about the features of the election machine at: Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.