Butler County will likely be transitioning to a paper-based ballot to stay compliant with the state’s mandate that all county voting systems must have a verifiable paper trail by the next presidential election.
The Butler County board of commissioners voted Tuesday to recommend the election bureau contract with Election Systems & Software, based in Nebraska, for a new system worth $991,000.
County officials began looking into a new voting system back in March 2018. There are five companies that make systems that are legally able to be used for elections in Pennsylvania. County officials met with four of those companies over various dates to hear about their products and see demonstrations.
The board of commissioners focused on several key components when evaluating the different systems, including cost, storage and usability for poll workers.
“We’ve done our due diligence,” Commissioner Kevin Boozel said during a commissioners meeting on Tuesday, March 5.
Commissioners Leslie Osche and Kim Geyer agreed.
“This process has been going on for years,” Geyer said. “And it was grueling at times. I was thinking about the taxpayers and our poll workers throughout the entire process.”
All three commissioners agreed the county needed to get this right as the national conversation continues about the security of our election process as a whole.
Of the four companies county officials met with, they narrowed it down to two and brought them back for more evaluations.
“There was a process here,” Osche said.
She explained one of the biggest issues, aside from cost, was the transportability of the ballot boxes, which will be handled by the poll workers. Many of the poll workers are older, and the size and weight of the boxes could present an issue.
As the county neared towards a decision, officials asked all the poll workers to come in and give their opinion on the remaining two companies. Seventy five of them took the opportunity.
“They took the process very seriously,” Geyer said.
Commissioner Boozel acknowledged the company that was favored by the poll workers was the same one the commissioners ultimately decided to recommend.
A substitute election board- appointed by a judge- will make the final decision to purchase the system because all three current commissioners are running for re-election.
“This is a standard procedure when the commissioners are involved in an election,” county solicitor Julie Graham said.
It’s the hope that the new paper system will be ready to go for the 2019 November general election. Voters will use a pen and paper to select their candidates and then personally scan their ballot and watch it fall into a secure ballot box.
Votes will be tabulated electronically, but there will be paper ballots to go back to should there be a discrepancy.
In April 2018, the Department of State directed that all Pennsylvania counties switch to voting systems with a paper record that voters can verify by the 2020 primary. Gov. Wolf’s 2019-2020 budget proposes a minimum of $15 million each year for the next five years, for a combined total of at least $75 million, in state funding to help counties purchase new systems. But ultimately, it’s still unclear how much funding will actually come from the state.
The commissioners noted they have signed an agreement to accept roughly $250,000 in federal funds to help offset the initial cost of the new machine. Aside from the initial cost of $991,364, there is an annual cost of just under $137,000. That includes maintenance, warranty, and $50,000 to buy the paper ballots. The cost of the system over its 10-year lifespan is estimated to be $2.3 million.
“There is widespread agreement across the nation that it is in the best interest of election integrity to use voting systems meeting the highest standards of security and auditability,” Acting Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar said. “We seek this substantial support because these critical purchases should be funded with a cost-share of federal, state and local funds, as all of us in all levels of government benefit from more secure and verifiable elections.”
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