To Platte County Voters:
On Dec. 7, 2025, Franklin County held a public demonstration of Unisyn electronic tabulating equipment (the same vendor used for Platte County elections) to inform people about how the equipment functions on election day.
A presentation prior to the demonstration highlighted key Missouri election laws that every voter should understand:
·As of Jan. 1, 2023, Missouri’s official ballot is a paper ballot hand marked by the voter, unless the voter chooses to use a ballot marking device. (RSMo 115.237)
·When using paper ballots, a legal vote is a distinguishing mark immediately beside the name of the candidate. (RSMo 115.439)
·A voter shall fold their paper ballot before leaving the voting booth so the distinguishing marks are concealed and then place it in the ballot box. (RSMo 115.443)
·The election authority shall be responsible for ensuring that the standards provided for in Missouri laws and rules are followed. (RSMo 115.456, 15CSR 30-9.030)
·No electronic voting system shall be approved unless it accurately counts all proper votes cast for each candidate and for and against each question. (RSMo 115.225)
The demonstration itself was a mock election. Voters present at the event cast ballots with legal distinguishing marks. These ballots were then inserted into the tabulator to be tallied as they would be on election day. During this process, no ballots were rejected by the tabulating equipment and so no ballots were redone. A results printout was generated showing the total count summary after all the ballots were processed by the tabulator. The same ballots were then hand counted and a comparison was presented to the attendees.
The comparison proved beyond doubt that some legal votes were not counted by the electronic tabulating equipment. This started a debate about why tabulators with known vote detection limitations are being used in our elections.
The county clerk argued that tabulators are legal because they are sufficient to read a “proper vote,” as referenced in statute RSMo 115.225, which he interprets as a vote that conforms to the voter instructions prescribed by the equipment vendor and printed on the ballot (i.e; fill in an oval next to their choice).
The opposing side argued that all legal votes are proper votes and that our election methods must count marks of voter intent as defined by Missouri law for “legal votes,” not as defined by the limitations of tabulator technology.
After observing the demonstration in Franklin County, we are persuaded that the use of tabulator technology in Platte County elections is problematic and possibly unlawful. We humbly request that the Platte County Board of Elections work with our group to hold a public demonstration on the functionality of our county election equipment so all viewpoints can be discussed and all questions answered.
www.facebook.com/PeoplesLobbyMissouri/videos/749436811508712/
--Platte County Republican
Central Committee
Election Integrity
Subcommittee
