Dare County elections staff recommend new ES&S voting system; board approves preliminary resolution

Dare County elections officials on May 29 heard a demonstration of new voting equipment from an Election Systems & Software (ES&S) representative and approved a preliminary resolution asking the county commissioners to fund replacement and upgraded voting machines.

The demonstration, given by a vendor representative identified in the meeting as Tom, showed two ballot-marking/scanning products ES&S is offering, an ADA ballot-marking device and a ballot-on-demand/print-on-demand process for early voting and one-stop sites. After questions and discussion about cost, maintenance and compliance, the board voted, by voice, to approve a preliminary resolution that staff will present to the Board of Commissioners and to the North Carolina State Board of Elections as part of the required purchase process.

Why it matters: county election officials said the recommended package is intended to replace older leased AutoMark ADA units and to modernize one-stop printing and tabulation processes. Officials said the change would address federal ADA requirements and could reduce per-ballot costs in early voting by moving to a ballot-on-demand approach at some sites.

Vendor demonstration and key features Tom described two primary pieces of the ES&S package: an ExpressVote-style ballot-marking device for voters with disabilities and a ballot-on-demand solution used at one-stop/early voting sites. He demonstrated how…