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Village approves $20,500 to refurbish and expand Badger Books ahead of 2026 elections
Summary
The board authorized roughly $20,500 to update the village's Badger electronic pollbook system (refurbish 10 units and buy four new devices) to improve election-day check-in, reduce paper use, and speed reconciliation for larger elections.
The Village of Salem Lakes board voted to allocate $20,500 from the clerk’s contingency to refurbish and expand its Badger Books electronic pollbook system in preparation for the 2026 election cycle.
Clerk staff explained the Badger Books system — a Wisconsin Election Commission electronic pollbook that runs locally and is not connected to the internet — can speed voter check-in, eliminate line inequity, reduce staff time reconciling poll lists after large elections, and reduce the number of paper pullbooks required at polling places. Staff said the village previously purchased 10 Badger devices in 2018; those units are seven years old and should be refurbished or replaced as clients. The clerk recommended refurbishing the existing set and purchasing four new servers/clients to meet state recommendations tied to the village’s registered-voter count.
The clerk presented cost estimates: refurbishing the 10 Badger units and buying four new units would cost $13,124; adding an additional client for redundancy brings the total to $20,447. The board approved a motion to spend $20,500, citing the clerk’s existing $30,000 election contingency in the 2025 budget to cover the purchase and ancillary items such as rolling carts and cords.
Clerk staff said Badger Books should be prepared well in advance of the next election-year cycle to allow time for training poll workers and to reduce processing time in larger elections; the system also provides improved absentee ballot processing and quicker post-election reconciliation.
