San Francisco

San Francisco Tests New Election Voting System

A pilot program in San Francisco aims to make the voting process easier both on casting a vote and how that vote is counted.

San Francisco residents have until Tuesday to test the pilot program out, which includes electronic voting on large tablets.

"It's absolutely amazing," voter Charles Esler said of trying out the pilot. "It's a lot more user friendly."

San Francisco's Department of Elections is hoping voters will offer plenty of opinions after they come test them out. The machines being used in the new voting process are built by Dominion Voting Systems.

Alyssa Prohaska, with Dominion Voting Systems, said the machines have the ability to change languages, font sizes, font colors and voters will be able to listen to the ballot being played back to them through headphones.

If they get the green light, you will now be able to make 10 choices for the next rank-choice race instead of just three.

Authorities said the new technology will scan all ballots and upload them to a computer so they can be posted online and anyone can see the results, making the election transparent.

The Department of Elections hopes to get the new system approved by this upcoming new year.

Contact Us