As election day draws near, officials across the country are working to address concerns about election security.

One of the biggest targets of misinformation is voting machines – something election officials want to voters to know more about.

“There are some pretty wild conspiracies out there saying that you can’t trust these tabulating machines because they’re switching votes from candidate A to candidate B.” says Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who’s believes transparency is the best way to fight back against false claims.

“One of the things we can do and are doing to combat missing disinformation is simply leading with the truth.”

In Minnesota, state law requires all voting machines to be publicly tested ahead of election day.

“Anyone off the street can watch this. And the elections people who run the show on elections basically try to trick it.” Secretary Simon said. Some of the tricks that officials try include creasing or folding the ballot, voting for multiple candidates in the same race, or just putting extraneous markings on the paper.

Only after passing the test flawlessly are the machines allowed to be used. And if a voter makes a mistake on election day, the rejected ballot isn’t simply crumpled up and thrown away. St. Louis County Clerk and Elections Manager Phil Chapman says it’s just the opposite.

“We’re required to document that. So if someone does make an error and they say, hey, we want a new ballot, we’re required to spoil the ballot. So we place it in an envelope and then we’re required to document it.”

And if errors do happen with the machines, there’s always a backup – the ballots themselves.

“Everything is paper. So when someone comes in, they vote, they fill out a paper application. We have that documentation. We’re required to keep all those ballots. They’re sealed on election night by election judges. They’re sent to the county for retention and no one opens those ballots unless we do a recount or we have a court order to open them.

Secretary Simon says he doesn’t fault anyone for having questions about the machines.

“I don’t blame them, you know, they’re not into all the details of the day-to-day stuff. But it’s our job in our office and our partners around the state, just to let folks know about that to put people at ease about the security of your ballot.”

More information on election machine specifics can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website.