New voting machines arrive in Washington County
Tuesday, April 28, may seem a long way off, but the voting machines Washington Countians will be using that day in the presidential primary have arrived from Omaha, Nebraska, and are now undergoing an initial phase of testing.
The various components of the Election Systems and Software Express Vote devices make up 600 ballot-marking devices and 180 cases and scanners that will be deployed to comply with a state requirement that each county have a paper trail that can be audited.
鈥淭his is acceptance testing,鈥� said Melanie Ostrander, Washington County elections director, of the beehive of activity last week in the storage area for the new machines.
鈥淥nce they鈥檙e assembled, they鈥檙e going to remain assembled,鈥� Ostrander said of the touch-screens, scanners and ballot boxes. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to ask people at the precinct level to build them.鈥�
Elections office staff members will be trained in January on new software that was part of the $2.8 million purchase through a state contract, and mandatory training for those who will serve on local election boards will begin in late February and continue through March.
The size of the plastic bins holding the ballot containers will also affect the method of transporting the equipment to polling places.
鈥淣obody can fit this in their car,鈥� Ostrander said.
On election night, those working at the polls already bring a blue bag containing paperwork back to the elections office in Washington, and that will remain the same, but they鈥檒l also be carrying a second blue bag that holds paper ballots, and a gold canvas courier envelope with a designated slot for the flash drive downloadable device with results in digital form.
In addition to staff and poll worker training, the elections office expects to demonstrate the new machines to the voting public at dates to be announced next year.