Election Judges Testing Minnesota Ballot Machines

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) -- Election judges are testing ballot machines at hundreds of polling places across Minnesota to make sure the Nov. 6 election goes off without a hitch.

Minnesota Public Radio reports that election judges feed paper ballots into ballot machines to check if markings are being read properly. The machines are also tested to make sure they'll appropriately flag ballots that are marked improperly.

The accuracy testing process is legally required and must also be open to the public.

Secretary of State Steve Simon says the paper-based, decentralized method makes Minnesota's voting system less vulnerable to attacks. He says the state has 4,100 polling places and more than 31,000 election judges.

Simon says he has a "high degree of confidence" in the state's cyber security.

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