Election officials test new voting equipment - WKOW 27: Madison, WI Breaking News, Weather and Sports

MADISON (WKOW) -- State election officials are testing out new voting equipment that could be used in the November election.

At a meeting in Madison Wednesday night, the Government Accountability Board demonstrated the electronic voting machines. Officials say the systems can automatically determine if someone over votes or votes across parties in a partisan primary.

Members of the public were also able to test out the machines.

Critics raised concerns that the electronic information could be easily lost or stolen.

"We understand there are people in Wisconsin who believe that all of the ballots should be paper and hand-counted. This equipment uses paper ballots, but they are optical scanned. And so you still have the paper trail," explained GAB spokesman Reid Magney.

The Wisconsin Election Administration Council will review the voting system Thursday and make a recommendation to the GAB. If approved by the GAB at its August 28 meeting, the machines could be available for the November election.

Election officials say it's up to each municipality to determine whether to buy the new equipment.

Magney said many voting machines, like many used in Madison, are old. He said many date back to the 1990's and will eventually need to be replaced.