The Washington County Election Commission is looking to replace its bulky paper poll books with digital devices to help speed voter identification at the precincts on Election Day.
Election officials say the Poll Pads, which use a secure Apple iPad application to help with the check-in of voters at the polls, will also save money and reduce human error. Bill Whitehead, a representative of MicroVote, told Washington County commissioners last week that the Poll Pads are more “efficient and streamlined” than the traditional poll books.
He said the digital devices will eliminate some of the “misfires” that occurred in the 2020 primary election when voters at a few county precincts reported getting the wrong ballot for state races.
“Currently, election officials have to flip through many voter registration books on Election Day,” Whitehead told commissioners during a demonstration of the Poll Pads. “A voter’s identification can be scanned and verified within 35 seconds. It removes human error from the process.”
He said the Poll Pads automatically pull up the voter’s registration information and makes sure he or she is issued the proper ballot on Election Day.
Whitehead said the devices are used as a “stand-alone” system at the precincts and are not connected to the voting machines.
“These Poll Pads get voters in line for the machines faster and they also help voting officials to reconcile information after the election much quicker,” he said.
Dana Jones, the county’s administrator of elections, said Washington County currently has 11,000 of pages of voter registration information that must be printed for each county voting precinct on Election Day. She said the Poll Pads will allow election workers to compile voter information that it now takes as long as three weeks to reconcile within less than an hour.
Jones said the Poll Pads will also save on printing costs and reduce the number of machine operators needed at the polls for each election. Altogether, election officials say they expect to save between $16,967 and $50,900 per election by using the Poll Pads.
“My goal is to be able to return $50,000 to the county’s coffers,” Jones said. “I’d love to do that.”
Washington County officials have received a bid of $60,590 from Knowink to purchase 38 Poll Pads.
County Commission Chairman Greg Matherly told his colleagues on Monday that the request should begin making its way through the commission’s committee process in February if the Election Commission hopes to have the devices in time to use for the May 3 primary election.
The county’s Commercial, Industrial and Agricultural Committee is expected to consider the proposal at its meeting on Thursday.
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January 31, 2022 at 10:00AM
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Officials say new electronic poll books will save time and money - Johnson City Press (subscription)
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