The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Buried in a March executive order from President Donald Trump is a provision that could cast doubt on voting machines in Ohio and around the country. The order directs federal officials to amend a set of security benchmarks for voting machines.
Those standards, known as the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, are indeed voluntary. But some states, including Ohio, require compliance with the most recent guidelines in state statute.
“If that were to be implemented — if that executive order were to be implemented by the (Election Assistance Commission),” Lorain County Board of Elections Director Paul Adams explained, “it would basically decertify our equipment.”
The order
The president’s executive order drew a lot more attention for a different voting issue. Trump wanted to alter federal voter registration forms to require proof of citizenship. That move was quickly challenged and put on hold by the courts.
The guidelines updates would bar voting machines “in which a vote is contained within a barcode or quick-response code” unless it’s necessary to accommodate people with disabilities.
The order goes on to state ballots “should provide a voter-verifiable paper record.”
Adams explained that Lorain County, and several others, use machines that encode a voter’s choices so that the ballot can be quickly read by a machine. But even in those cases, there’s a paper trail to back up the votes. Election officials check that record in the post-election audit that happens after every single election.
“So, for the sake argument,” Adams explained, “if, for some reason, the bar code was off and it gave votes to somebody else for president or gave votes to somebody else for governor, you’re going to find that in the audit. You’re also going to find out in any recount.”
The reason is pretty simple: people don’t read barcodes.
“On a recount or an audit, you are looking at — not that barcode — you’re looking at actually what appears on the ballot that the voters saw when they cast their ballot.”
According to the Secretary of State, the majority of Ohio counties still use hand-marked paper ballots. But 28 counties, including Lorain, use a machine that prints out voters’ selections, and another 13 use a machine that directly records a person’s vote while producing a paper record.
The Ohio Capital Journal asked the Secretary of State’s office about the potential impact of the executive order. Secretary Frank LaRose did not respond.
So what happens next?
The first big question on Adams’ mind is dollars and cents. Think about the last time you went to vote. How many voting booths were there? How about ballot scanners? Now multiply that by hundreds of polling locations. All of that equipment is expensive, and Adams is quick to note no one at the state or federal level is offering to pick up the tab.
“So, this is going to be borne by local taxpayers,” he said. “It’s going to be boards of elections going to their county commissioners and saying, ‘I need to replace my voting equipment.’ And we’re talking millions of dollars.”
Nationwide, the cost could land in the billions.
Even before Trump’s executive order, the Election Assistance Commission was in the process of certifying machines for a recent update. The commission approved the first one just last month. Rachel Orey from the Bipartisan Policy Center said they’ve been studying what that transition might cost.
“Nationwide, it’s expected to cost probably, like $2-$5 billion to fully transition to this new type of voting equipment. Our current like, best guess is about $3 billion,” Orey explained.
Adams added that timing presents a challenge, as well. With less than 90 days until this November’s election, it would be very difficult if not impossible to overhaul the system in time.
The 2026 primaries might be a different story, but Adams warned if every jurisdiction in the country is looking for new equipment, “that waiting list is going to be forever.”
The risks
Even if the changes laid out in the executive order are relatively straightforward, applying them to a complex system likely won’t be.
Orey pointed out the executive order doesn’t technically ban equipment, and the new draft guidelines implementing the order seem to contradict themselves.
The order leaves the door open for bar and QR code machines for people with disabilities, and the guidelines gesture toward limiting their use to those voters.
But at the same time, the guidelines encourage election officials to get more people using accessible equipment to maintain ballot secrecy or to spot security and maintenance problems.
Orey worries that confusion could breed distrust. At first blush, the executive order appears to ban barcodes, and they’re even beginning to hear some election officials describing it that way.
“For me, the risk is really about that voter walking into the polling place and thinking that their ballot isn’t going to be counted because the ballot has a QR code on it,” they said. “And then that, you know, kind of spiraling out into distrust and conspiracy theories elsewhere.”
Adams has complete faith in his county’s encoded ballots, but he’s not opposed to a different approach.
“I can see how it could make people think and give a perception — even though I don’t agree with that perception — that there’s an issue.”
But he insisted county boards need adequate time and money.
“That’s what we have had every other time in the last 30 years when there is a required upgrade like this,” Adams said. “You take time, you make sure that there’s options, and you make sure there’s money. I’m okay with that. It’s just this moving this fast, I think it’s going to set election officials up for a disaster.”
