Anoka County approves purchase of iPad poll pads after split vote

The Anoka County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 25 approved the purchase of iPad cellular poll pads and an extension of the county’s existing contract for those devices, voting 4-2 to authorize $271,437.50 in new purchases and an amendment to contract C0006472 that extends the contract from Feb. 25, 2025, to Feb. 24, 2026, with annual automatic renewals.

The purchase matters because the devices are used to manage electronic voter rosters at polling locations and were the subject of sustained public comment and several commissioners’ statements about security, cost and local control. The item was presented as action item number 5 under Property Records and Taxation and was moved for a vote by Commissioner Jepsen and seconded by Commissioner Meissner.

Commissioner Heinrich said he would vote no and framed his opposition around concerns about the “scalability” of potential misuse. “If there was a nefarious actor, trying to gain voter information through the pull pad system, that is certainly more scalable. And that's my concern is the scalability of possible fraud,” Heinrich said. He added, “I feel that paper pull pads are more secure than electronic pull pads.”

Commissioner Meissner spoke in favor of the purchase, citing state law, checks and balances used by elections officials and what she described as county-level security measures. “The state of Minnesota has some of the most rigid laws around security, number one. Number two, we have checks and balances,” Meissner said. “Anoka County has done some steps to increase this on good faith measures.” She also said the county must comply with state statute.

Commissioner Reinert also opposed the purchase, emphasizing a preference for local autonomy. Reinert said he has been pushing for cities to be allowed to choose paper rosters or electronic rosters and argued the county should first identify which cities want the devices before buying. “To me it’s about freedom and autonomy,” Reinert said.

Commissioner Jepsen and Commissioner Schulte both supported the purchase. Jepsen emphasized device lifecycle and fiscal stewardship, saying the county’s poll pads were beyond their expected shelf life and that retrofitting existing storage cases would reduce costs for the upgrade. Schulte described the devices as operating on cellular networks — which he called harder to hack than Wi‑Fi — and argued that returning to county‑wide paper rosters would be more expensive. “It will be an expensive proposition to go back to paper,” Schulte said, mentioning costs for temporary employees and additional administration.

In the roll call vote Commissioner Gamache, Commissioner Schulte, Commissioner Jepsen and Commissioner Meissner voted yes; Commissioner Heinrich and Commissioner Reinert voted no. The motion passed 4 to 2.

The approved motion authorized the purchase of iPad cellular poll pads in the amount of $271,437.50 and an extension amendment to Anoka County contract C0006472 with No Inc LLC, moving the contract term to 02/24/2026 with automatic annual renewals. The board did not attach further implementation conditions during the Feb. 25 meeting. The item will be administered by county elections/property records staff under the existing contract terms.