Scott County Voters to See Change

Come November 2020, the voters in Scott County will see a change in how and where they cast their ballot.

Scott County Election Commissioner Steve Holland shared that new equipment and the implementation of voting centers will be a part of that change.

The new equipment is being purchased jointly through a $238,000 state grant and the county. The new Express voting equipment consists of an electronic poll book, the Express Vote machine and the precinct scanner and tabulator.

Voters will come in, check in with the ExpressPoll machine, take their ballot to the voting machine and follow the prompts. Once complete, the voter will have verified on the screen that the information is correct, and receive a printed out hard copy ballot. “They will be able to look at the screen and have a hard copy of the vote,” stated Holland. Once the voter has completed this step, they will then place the printed card into the tabulator.

Holland shared that the new equipment is ADA compliant with earphones and larger screen size capabilities.

Another change will be the implementation of vote centers. According to him, this will allow registered voters the option of voting at any of the proposed voting locations in the county. Also, that it permits most voter registration errors to be corrected at the voting site and significantly reduces the number of poll workers needed.

Those centers have not yet been established. In order to meet the requirements, those locations must have wi-fi service, telephone access and be ADA compliant.

The members of the election commission have submitted a proposal to the Scott County Quorum Court, and hope to have a final plan together for the October meeting.

The commission’s goals are to ensure fair, honest, and secure elections while offering voters more options on where to cast their ballots as well as upgrading aged voting equipment and doing so in a fiscally responsible manner that most efficiently utilizes taxpayers dollars.

If you have concerns or questions, you can contact the Scott County Election Commission at [email protected]