Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate joined Scott County Auditor Kerri Tompkins Thursday morning, Oct. 8, at the county building in Eldridge, as they conducted public tests on election equipment ahead of the November 3 general election.
Every vote tabulator undergoes a logic accuracy test before each election, which the public is invited to attend and watch. Sample ballots are tested on the machine to ensure the tabulators are working correctly and recording votes properly.
On Thursday, poll workers tested 66 voting machines, including sample ballots fed in a variety of ways, and ballots that had too many or not enough bubbles filled out in each race.
“So we certainly don't expect any issues. If there is, then it's something that we pull that machine and take a look at it,” Tompkins said. “Hopefully it'll be an easy fix.”
Pate said similar testing is done before the elections in all 99 Iowa counties.
“Every single tabulator is tested and certified so it's ready on Election Day, and the whole point is for us to try to come up with every possible combination of ways things could go wrong and make sure it doesn't go wrong,” he said Thursday. “That's why Kerri was talking about putting the ballot in backwards or side to side. You can try all the various options and it's still not going to let you do it. The machine will tell you to correct it, and that's what the poll workers are there to help them with.
“I think it's important to note we do a lot of things to assure the public of the integrity of our elections,” Pate said. “And that's why we do a public testing, because that way people can see that the systems are there and being reviewed and the various ballot styles. Keep in mind how many different ballot styles alone Scott County has, when you look at the different races by house districts and maybe special things that are going on.”
While the testing was open to the public, the news media was not allowed to film or take photos in the restricted testing area in a warehouse of the building, Tompkins said.
“Today is a public setting where the public can see how we do it, how we do the setting up of the machines, also kind of a reassurance of all the integrity and security measures we put into elections, such as voter ID and paper ballots and post-election audits,” Pate said. “What you're seeing here today as far as how the tabulators are checked over and over with the various styles of ballots, and then how the machines are secured and ready for the big day on Election Day.”
“The difference is that area is our warehouse,” Tompkins said of Thursday’s testing, done differently compared to 2024. “We want it to be secure, not just for us but for all of us, I think everybody here is from Scott County except for Secretary Pate. For all of our voters, my job is to make sure that we are as secure as possible.”
“Iowa does a great job in making sure that our elections are secure. This is just one example,” she said. “We use paper ballots, so there's always a paper trail. So we can test those, we can make sure that those ballots match the tape that comes out. That's very important. The other piece that I think a lot of people miss is that we do a post-election audit. I already have it scheduled. It's for 9 o'clock on the Friday after the election.”
“They hand count all of those ballots to make sure that it matches the tape on the machine. It does take longer because people make human errors,” she added. “We do it for every one and every time it has reconciled. So it just shows that we want to make sure that those machines are reading the ballots correctly, and that's just another measure to show that.”
Different ballots for different precincts
“What the Auditor's Office has done is they have put together a sampling of the different types of ballots that are used in different precincts, and those are then put in what we call a deck, just like a stack of the ballots, and these poll workers will run those through the machine, and they actually try to fool the machine,” Pate said.
“Literally, they will put the ballot in upside down, try to put it in every different way you can. And they will overmark it in some cases, they may undermark and not vote for something, and the machine is being tested to see if it will catch those things. And if it doesn't, then we know we need to do something with the machine. So it's, again, preparing for the worst, if you will, and I think that process is what has worked well for us in the past.”
“We spend a significant amount of time on cyber protection. We still want to make sure the bad actors stay out of our elections, so we have to continue to guard against those kinds of activities,” he said. “Then we look at any technology that might be coming out and making sure it's been tested fully before it ever gets to being used.”
The 2026 voting machines are the same ones that Iowa used in 2024, and there were no issues then, Tompkins said.
Pate emphasized that absentee ballots must be received by the Auditor’s Office by Election Day, not simply postmarked by that day.
“It's got nothing to do with postmarks, it's got to be in their physical possession,” he said. “You can track your ballot when you request an absentee ballot. You can go on the Secretary of State's website and it will show that the auditor received your request. It will also show when they mail it out to you, and then it will also show when the auditor receives it back from you.
“Should, for whatever reason, you not get your ballot, you can contact the auditor to find out where it's at. Or if you see that your ballot was not received back by the auditor, you can try to remedy that by either getting a new ballot in your possession or coming down and voting in person or voting on Election Day,” Pate said. “So we want to make sure people are successful when it comes to voting.”
The voting machine will detect if someone does not fill out part of a ballot, or overvotes, he noted.
“It will alert you that you have not filled out your ballot fully, or you overfilled it,” Pate said. “And if you overfilled it, you put too many marks in, it will tell you that as well. And then you have a chance to fix your ballot before you walk out of the balloting place.”
The tabulators will print out results in a tape (like a receipt), and those results are compared to the actual paper ballots to match.
Tompkins said she has received about 6,000 absentee ballot requests so far, and about a third of total voters in the county vote early.
Iowa early voting starts Oct. 14
“We'll have the ballots mailed. The 14th is a very busy day. We often get a lot of people that show up at the sites or in our office on that Wednesday because they hadn't received their ballot yet, so to be very clear, the law tells us we cannot mail that ballot until that day.,” she said of Oct. 14. “So we open for early voting at 8 a.m., we don't get to mail those ballots until that day. So they're not going to have it obviously on the same day. So give us a few days to get them out, and then hopefully before you go vote in person.”
“Early voting is definitely busy and it's a great option for Iowa. It's definitely kicking up, but the majority are still coming out on Election Day,” Tompkins added. “I think Iowans just prefer to vote on Election Day, which is a great thing.”
In the last midterm elections in 2022, 51.9% of eligible voters cast ballots in Iowa, compared to 48.4% of eligible voters in Scott County.
You must request an absentee ballot to receive a ballot via the mail. Ballots will begin to be mailed on Oct. 14. The completed absentee ballot request form is due by 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 19.
Request forms are available in the auditor’s office (600 W. 4th St., Davenport, M-F, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.), via download from the Auditor’s webpage or the Auditor’s Office will mail forms to voters upon request, at elections.scottcountyiowa.gov, or you can call 563-326-8631.
- To vote absentee by mail you must complete a request form. You may contact the Auditor’s Office to request that a form be sent to you. When filling out the form, please be sure to include the date the request is signed. Once completed, please return the form to the Scott County Auditor's Office, 600 W. 4th St., Davenport, IA 52801.
- To be sent an absentee ballot by mail, the Auditor’s Office must receive your Absentee Ballot Request form by 5 p.m. on the Monday 15 days before the Election.
- In-person absentee voting is available in the Auditor’s Office during regular business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) The deadline for in-person absentee voting is 4:30 pm on the Monday before the election.
- Additionally, during General Elections absentee voting may be made available at various satellite locations in Scott County. Please contact the Auditor’s Office to see if there are any satellite locations scheduled. Satellite voting locations are established by a public petition with a minimum of 100 signatures.
- For the 2026 General, see the Satellite tab here: 2026 General Election specific information.
Absentee ballots returned by mail to the Auditor’s Office must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day. For locations and hours of Scott County early voting sites, click HERE.
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