Cass County proposes temporary move of election operations to Bison Room; coroner and emergency management space options discussed

County election and facilities staff recommended using the Bison Room in the annex building to stage absentee operations and to store ballot tabulation equipment for the upcoming primary and general elections, officials said at a Cass County Building Committee meeting.

Brandy, an elections staffer, told the committee that absentee board operations regularly bring "50 to 60 absentee judges" into a single workspace and that the current county warehouse lacks air conditioning and a secure, temperature-controlled room for tabulators and related equipment. She said the tabulation machine area should be secure and temperature controlled and that "they need to be moved as little as possible" once placed.

The proposal would repurpose a seldom-used training room adjacent to the Bison Room as the tabulator room, allowing the tabulation equipment (identified in discussion as DS450 machines) to remain in a secured, climate-controlled space during election cycles. County staff noted existing warehouse security would need to be maintained for the new location and that adding cameras or card access would be an additional expense, described as not large but not currently budgeted.

Officials also discussed space for the coroner's office and county emergency management. County staff said the City of Fargo indicated available square footage at the Fargo Cass Public Health building that could accommodate the coroner's needs; county and coroner staff have toured that space. Separately, the county's emergency management office currently occupies a small footprint in a Fargo emergency management building; staff said the city was seeking to reclaim space at short notice and that the county needs an interim plan. Options discussed included placing emergency management staff in the public-health expansion, using the training room adjacent to the Bison Room temporarily, or identifying other county spaces.

Staff noted ongoing technical and cost implications if emergency management relocates. The county currently pays about $550 a month for fiber connectivity to the Fargo facility and maintains roughly $12,000 of equipment there; officials said they would consider whether to retain that connection if staffing moves. County staff also said department heads will receive a draft of the county's space-needs study by the end of the day and that the building committee will discuss the study at a special meeting on May 19.

Committee members asked staff to coordinate with affected departments, to ensure secure chain-of-custody procedures for tabulators, and to include any incremental security or equipment costs in upcoming budget discussions.