MIAMI – Miami-Dade County officials are getting ready for the upcoming primary election, and before voters can go cast their ballot, a test run is being done to make sure everything runs smoothly.
A mini mock election took place Wednesday inside a warehouse at Miami-Dade County election headquarters.
Here, participants are running ballots through voting machines to test their accuracy ahead of the primary election at the end of the month.
"This test shows our voters to be confident in the voting system here in Miami-Dade and all throughout Florida for that matter," Supervisor of Elections Christina White said.
Here's how the mock election works: ballots are cast based on a predetermined outcome. They are then tabulated.
In the end, staff will compare the predetermined results to what the machines tabulated to ensure that it is the same.
A total of 80 voting units were used for the mock election, but there are 1,600 units that will be used for the actual election. Each unit will be tested before it’s used.
The voting process itself is fairly simple.
Voters first fill out a ballot, selecting their candidate and then they simply run it through the machine.
The election staff is not anticipating any hiccups, but in the event of a paper jam or some other technical problem, there is a plan in place.
"If we can't resolve that immediately, then we will replace that unit immediately," White said.