LA County implementing new digital voting system

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Changes are in the works for how we vote in Los Angeles County. In the next few years, casting your ballot will be as simple as pushing a button.

A new digital system is replacing an ink/punch voting system that's been in use for nearly 60 years.

The new system uses a touch screen so voters can get in and vote faster.

"It's based on a touch screen, so that's one of the things that is new. Every ballot can be displayed in any of the, right now, 10 supported languages," said Matt Adams, an engineer at IDEO.

Adams was part of the design team for the new system. He said it can't be hacked and there will be no voting mishaps.

He explained that when someone votes, it prints the ballot out so that the voter can check to make sure that the ballot reflects what they wanted to choose. That same ballot is then scanned and tallied.

Dean Logan, a register recorder county clerk, said the high-tech additions may help with the voting crisis.

"We're seeing a crisis in California of lower voter turnout. If we want to be sure that people recognize the significance of voting and take part in that process, we have to have a voting experience that's responsive to the way people function on a day-to-day basis," he said.

The new system will also allow people to vote anywhere during an election.

"A voter can go to any voting location and get their correct ballot. It will have real-time access to our statewide database, so a lot of the issues that led to voters voting provisional ballots in the most recent elections are things that could be resolved on a real-time basis," Logan added.

We will be able to use the newer system on a limited basis in 2018, and officials expect to role the whole thing out for everyone to use in 2020."