KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — For the second time, Knox County voters will be casting their ballots on paper.
"Paper is secure and I think people really like that," said Chris Davis, administrator of elections for Knox County. "Your ballot drops into a locked ballot box. It's sealed by a Democrat and Republican at the end of the night."
From there, the ballots are kept in a secure room with an alarm system until after the election is certified.
"We feel very secure in Knox County," Davis said.
Both the Knox County Democratic and Republican parties have confidence in the local election management too, officials said.
"Our election volunteers have done a very good job of making the voting polling location safe," said Matt Shears, chair of the Knox County Democratic Party. "Both parties, Republican and Democrat, send folks to be election poll workers."
That oversight from both parties is key to ensuring a fair election. It helps make sure that each ballot counts the same.
"They observe the process for any irregularities or anomalies," said Randy Pace, chair of the Knox County Republican Party. "The security of our elections are extremely important ... I'm confident that Tennessee and Knox County will conduct fair elections."
If a person is voting in person, the ballot scanner will tell them whether their ballot is rejected or counted.
"It kicks back," said Chris Davis. "Your choices may not be properly marked, too many choices were marked ... sometimes people will start to vote, then put a period on it."
If a ballot kicks back, voters have the opportunity to fix it or submit it as is. If they're voting absentee and make a mistake, a team of Democrats and Republicans will work together to determine their intent.
"We have to have that team sit there and adjudicate that anywhere between 6 and 10 percent of ballots that for whatever reason, were not filled out properly," Davis said.
Absentee ballots can also be rejected if the signature does not match the one on file, although Davis said that is not common. Of the 11,000 absentee ballots cast in the August election, just 14 were rejected for signatures.
"When we say it not matches, there's nothing we're looking for. We're looking for trends, we're looking for tendencies," Davis said. "We have folks who have literally had training from the police department, sheriff's department, on how to look at handwriting and look at signatures."