Committee advances House Bill 67 to make accessible voting equipment permanent; members note costs and rollout concerns

The Election Law Committee voted to advance House Bill 67, which would make the state’s pilot for accessible voting equipment permanent and preserve an arrangement for the Secretary of State’s office to share state-owned accessible voting devices with towns and schools.

Representative Robert Wherry introduced the measure as a transition from a pilot program that had placed the state’s “one4all” accessible machines in local elections. The deputy secretary of state, Erin Hennessy, told senators the equipment the state currently uses is serviceable but “a little bit clunky” and difficult for election officials to set up; the office has issued a request for proposals and aims to replace the system by the end of the calendar year if possible.

“The system…is a little bit clunky. It’s difficult for an election official to set up,” Hennessy said, describing vendor programming steps, multiple electronic parts, and the potential for failures that require replacement equipment in the field. She said local clerks told the Secretary of State’s office that programming costs from the current vendor were unexpectedly high — with a cited minimum vendor cost of about $600 per ballot style — creating unbudgeted expenses for small towns that previously had not paid for local election programming.

Committee members voiced support for the bill’s goal of expanding private, accessible voting options while urging the Secretary of State’s office to address cost and operational burdens on smaller towns. Representative Ross Berry, chair of the House Election Law Committee, said he supported the bill but asked the Senate committee to consider how to mitigate the programming and equipment costs for smaller localities.

Committee members adopted a committee amendment (Amendment 1641s) clarifying custodianship and effective dates and voted the bill “ought to pass.” The amendment removes the pilot status, clarifies that the town or city clerk will be the custodian of equipment shared for school elections where the school clerk is a different official, and moves back a pilot end date to December 2025 in the event replacement equipment is not ready.

Votes at a glance - Amendment 1641s (committee amendment to HB 67): adopted by voice vote in committee. The motion to adopt was seconded and the “ayes” carried the amendment. - House Bill 67 (accessible voting equipment; permanent use of state equipment in local paper-ballot jurisdictions): committee voted “ought to pass” after adopting the committee amendment.

Committee members asked the Secretary of State’s office to work on pricing and vendor options in the pending RFP and to prepare formal agreements clarifying how the state will share equipment with towns and clerks. No floor date was set in the committee hearing recorded in the transcript.