Michigan county using GPS tracking for election data, hoping to grow trust in process

WEST OLIVE, Mich. (SBG) — Stacked boxes in the corner of the Ottawa County Clerk's Office in Michigan may be the next phase of election security technology, as the boxes hold dozens of GPA trackers that allow officials to track vital election data around the county in real time.

Some counties within the state drive in encrypted election data to the county clerk's office, where unofficial election results can be confirmed, a process that can take longer depending on how large the county is.

In Ottawa County, election officials now have the unique ability to watch the process of results being driven in from the security and safety of an office chair in the clerk's office.

It’ll also give us an idea of when we can expect the results to come back to us and be transmitted on the website,” Ottawa County clerk Justin Roebuck said.

For the last few years, Ottawa County has used electronic transmissions of its unofficial election results, a practice Roebuck said the county has been looking to move away from as an added layer of security.

Here's how it works: as the election machine scans the results of a ballot, the data goes onto a flash drive, which is not connected to the internet. That encrypted drive is sealed within the tabulator.

A bipartisan group of election workers then places the drive in a sealed container that includes the GPS tracker, a device which Roebuck said never stops communicating with the clerk's office.

The tracking device, similar to the way an Apple AirTag works, then sends a signal to the clerk's office with its location every five minutes while it is in movement.

We are basically able to watch in real time as the results are transported to the local clerks and then obviously to our office,” Roebuck explained.

Those in charge of the encrypted drive have to use Secretary of State-certified nylon bags, which are sealed and difficult to open without obvious evidence of tampering.

Roebuck believes Ottawa County is the first county in the state of Michigan to utilize this kind of technology.

He has had to watch, along with so many other election officials, trust in the American democratic voting process go drastically downward, especially as former President Donald Trump has continued to insist, against all available evidence, that the presidential election was stolen from him in 2020.

“I hope this is a step that encourages public confidence in the security of our processes," Roebuck said. "And I think it’s really important to reiterate that our processes are secure.”

Other counties across the state, like rural Arenac in east central Michigan, also drive their results in from voting precincts, but those counties don't have any way to track cars right now.

Arenac County Clerk Nancy Selle, who has been a clerk for the last three years, hadn't heard about the GPS tracking option until a phone call Monday, but said her county would "absolutely" benefit from the technology.

Selle shared her concerns about the many election workers who have left the field in the last few years, many of whom she described as retired members of the community disheartened by the distrust and overwhelmed by increasing rules for elections.

Four of the 15 clerks in Arenac County are new this year, Selle said, and more clerks have said they will not run again.

A lot of individuals don’t want to partake in the elections," Selle said. "They’re becoming very strenuous, more requirements, and it’s just not as manageable as it used to be.”

While new technology for elections can be expensive, Roebuck said the trackers for Ottawa are a very small dollar amount for the value of the investment, with it costing roughly $11,000 in startup costs and $5,000 every year.

“This is actually also replacing about the same cost we used for the service that turned on our electronic modem," Roebuck said, meaning the devices essentially did not cost any more money than the county would have already been spending on electronic transmissions.

Roebuck said Ottawa County also received a federal grant that allowed his office to obtain the devices.

Ottawa is giving the GPS trackers their first test run during Tuesday's local election, which will only happen in about 14% of the county's precincts. By the time next year's midterm elections roll around, county officials said they felt confident in the practice they've had using the new method.