Reviewing Ford County’s Tabulation Machine Testing Process During the 2024 General Election [March 2025]

The Ford County election office administers elections in Ford County, Kansas. We previously reviewed Ford County’s tabulation machine testing practices during the 2022 general election and found their practices were inadequate because they didn't use pre-audited test ballots with predetermined outcomes that tested for overvote rejection. This audit is a follow up to that review. For this audit, we reviewed Ford County’s tabulation machine testing process for the 2024 general election and found it was generally adequate to ensure the accuracy of tabulation machines before and after the 2024 general election. However, it wasn’t completed within statutory timelines. Ford County performed 3 separate tests on their voting equipment for the 2024 general election using pre-audited test ballots that tested for overvote rejection. Ford County conducted a limited pre-election public test for the 2024 general election within the statutory timeline but didn’t include all tabulation machines. Ford County also conducted 2 comprehensive tabulation machine tests on all tabulation machines before and after the 2024 general election that included the required elements, but they didn’t conduct either test within statutory timelines. We also identified 1 error during the comprehensive post-election test that wasn’t resolved by the county election officer.