Board approves funding to replace voting equipment; elections staff say machines meet executive-order certification requirements

The Iredell County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a budget amendment to replace the county’s aging DS200 voting equipment with DS300 tabulators after elections staff assured the board the proposed replacement complies with applicable certification requirements.

Elections staff told the board the current DS200 equipment is 13 years old and that the Board of Elections recommended replacing it with DS300 tabulators. "We have been planning for it. We put funds in the budget this current year for half of the estimated expense, and we're coming to ask for to allocate the remaining estimated expense so that we can move forward now with replacing the voting equipment," elections staff said.

Board members raised questions about a federal executive order discussed in public debate and whether future recertification work would impose additional county costs. Elections staff responded that the executive order did not use the word "compatible" and that the vendor’s contract and the county’s annual maintenance agreement would cover any required upgrades. "Yes. That is correct. We pay an annual maintenance...and that would cover that," an elections staff member said.

Commissioners praised the elections office for its work and emphasized the importance of election integrity amid national misinformation. The board approved budget amendment number 38 to fund the replacement; the motion to approve was made by Commissioner Help and passed without recorded opposition.

The county’s elections staff said they followed the required public processes and inspected certified systems in other counties as part of the procurement and replacement planning.