INDIANAPOLIS — Election Day is about a month away, and early voting starts Wednesday, Oct. 8.
Election workers want to make sure everything is ready to go, from poll workers to the voting machines themselves.
13News was there to watch officials demonstrating how it all works, and whether all that equipment inside Marion County's Election Services Center passed the test.
The state mandates the test of voting machines. Each county is required to test 5% of its equipment. They're specific about the machines to be examined.
"To make sure they are in good working order, that there are no votes on the machines that everything is ready to go for the election," Marion County Clerk Kate Sweeney Bell said. "In Marion County, we test it all. We don't rely on this 5% test. We know going into it, each and every machine that we have is going to work."
More than 2,600 are set up and tested to make sure every single selection is accurately recorded. Then, each machine is secured away.
All of it is done during an open meeting of the Marion County Election Board.
"It's very important we explain every little detail," said Brian Chatfeld, who works in voter registration. He says it's critical for the public to be able to watch every step of the process.
"To see Republicans and Democrats working behind the scenes to make sure it's a free and fair election, its fun to watch," Chatfield said.
A spokesperson for the clerk's office told 13News everything went well. We got a copy of the certification form that says they ran the tests with the machines from at least three different precincts and corrected any issues that came up. But again, in Marion County, they tested them all, and when they were finished, the voting system was sealed, and it was signed not only the clerk, but by two members of the election board — a Republican and a Democrat.
Early voting starts next week, and you can still register. Click here to learn more.