Commissioners approve purchase of electronic poll books from ES&S pending solicitor review

Clearfield County Commissioners agreed May 13 to proceed with purchasing electronic poll books from Election Systems & Software (ES&S), pending the county solicitor’s final review of contract language.

County elections staff explained the electronic poll books are Microsoft Surface-style tablets preloaded with the county voter roll and will allow poll workers to look up voters, check signatures electronically and export a memory device at the end of voting — reducing manual processing time and the paper-intensive post-election scanning the county now performs.

Staff said the vendor quote is $166,002.57. The county expects to pay for much of the purchase with state election-integrity grant funds (Act 80), which the elections office estimates at about $250,000 in available grant awards; officials discussed splitting the purchase over fiscal periods so grant timing and budget cycles align. Staff recommended omitting optional thermal printers on the tablet stands to save roughly $15,000–$16,000 in cost, calling them unnecessary equipment that adds weight and complexity to polling-site setup.

Officials said the units will not require Wi-Fi at polling locations; the tablets will be preloaded and the system will operate offline with the memory device used to transfer data back to elections staff. Elections staff estimated delivery and training would occur by late summer, allowing the county to use the tablets for the fall election.

A motion to approve the ES&S purchase, pending solicitor review, passed unanimously. Commissioners and staff emphasized transparency about election changes and noted that several other counties that have adopted electronic poll books reported improvements and did not revert to paper-based processes.