Alameda County Board of Supervisors president Keith Carson and Alameda County Registrar of Voters Tim Dupuis announced Monday the implementation of a virtual platform that live streams the counting of ballots for the 2022 midterm elections.

The program was first implemented in 2020 and allows members of the public to observe the counting of votes from all devices and locations, according to an Alameda County press release. Election observation will be available through election day and until all election results are certified.

“Fairness, accuracy, and efficiency are the intention of all elections, and election observers help to promote transparency and confidence in the election process,” the press release reads.

The platform is meant to serve as a means of recognizing the important role that observers play in the election process; it offers viewers a safe way to observe election processing, added Dupuis.

Dupuis noted that the livestream was made available upon the request of the community following its first implementation during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The link to the virtual observation platform is available to all individuals and can be accessed through the website acvote.gov. The increase in accessibility serves to facilitate transparency in the county’s vote-counting process.

“There is a great deal of anxiety and distrust that has been stirred up through misinformation around the election process over the past few years here in Alameda County and across the country,” Carson said in a press release. “Having your vote count is at the heart of a democratic process, and we are committed to ensuring that every voice is counted.”

A majority of the aspects of the vote-counting process will be open to public observation, such as ballot opening, signature verification and automated signature recognition. In addition, individuals can also observe the election processes in person while adhering to the county’s required health and safety measures.