El Paso County clerk says last election ran ‘very successful’ and points to live-streamed drop boxes and strict audits

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleicher said the county’s most recent election “was a very successful election,” highlighting large Election Day turnout and multiple safeguards intended to protect ballot integrity.

Schleicher told host Scott Anderson that more than 60,000 ballots were cast on Election Day and that, overall, Election Day represented over 40 percent of ballots cast. The county operated 12 Voting Service and Polling Centers (VSPCs) and 41 ballot drop boxes during the election; Schleicher said the county plans to add three additional drop boxes in 2025. He said the Secretary of State’s office uses registered‑voter counts to determine the number of drop boxes a county may operate and that El Paso County reported roughly 525,000 active registered voters (about 600,000 when including inactive registrations).

On close races, Schleicher described the county’s recount approach: the office conducts a full recount of every ballot when a recount is triggered rather than limiting the recount to ballots cast only within a geographic subdistrict. He said bipartisan judges and adjudication procedures are used to assess voter intent and that a risk‑limiting hand count audit follows the 8‑day post‑Election‑Day window that allows overseas/military (UOCAVA) ballots to arrive and voters to “cure” signature or envelope issues. Schleicher said the office completed a required recount 36 hours ahead of a Dec. 5 statutory deadline.

Schleicher also addressed equipment security and common public questions about cybersecurity. “Our system cannot absolutely cannot connect to any kind of external network,” he said, describing tabulators without network or wireless interfaces, locked processing units, port locks and round‑the‑clock security monitoring in storage areas. He said those measures, together with audits and bipartisan oversight, reduce the risk of tampering.

To increase transparency, Schleicher said the county upgraded camera systems at drop‑box sites (including solar or electric power options) and live‑streamed all 41 ballot drop boxes during the active election so residents could watch boxes in real time. He said the county has received no public‑records requests for the footage since the system was launched and that other counties have begun to adopt similar arrangements under the same vendor.

Schleicher invited residents with questions to contact his office and said staff are available to walk through audits, signatures and other procedures. He provided a local contact number on the podcast and emphasized the office’s outreach and education efforts as part of its transparency work.

The county’s next procedural steps are routine post‑election tasks: completion of the canvass and continuing any certification steps required by statute.