Town clerk says Bedford not ready to pick new voting tabulation machine after vendor demos

Bedford town clerk Tali Keller told the Town Council on June 25 that the elections team has reviewed demonstrations of two vendors to replace the town’s aging AccuVote scanners but cannot yet recommend one.

Keller said the team — herself, moderator Henry Bayou and assistant moderators — saw VotingWorks and LHS/Dominion ImageCast demonstrations and found the products “very, very similar” but with different strengths: VotingWorks’ end‑of‑night reconciliation tool is “intriguing,” while LHS (ImageCast) offers longstanding customer service experience. Keller said both vendors have offered mock‑election tests for Bedford to use as a hands‑on comparison.

Why it matters: Bedford’s AccuVote machines are increasingly unsupported, and the state offers a rebate of $3,500 per replaced machine through June 30, 2026. Keller said the town has seven machines and that replacing them would substantially reduce acquisition cost. Councilors pressed on timing, security and whether a digital…