Isanti County elections staff recommend switching to electronic poll books; vendor quote about $100,000

Isanti County elections staff outlined plans to replace paper voter rosters with electronic poll books — tablet devices often called e‑poll pads — and presented an estimated vendor quote of about $100,000 to equip the county.

At a Feb. 25 County Board meeting, Angie Larson, an elections official from the Isanti County elections office, said the e‑poll books would let election judges search and check voters on tablets, scan driver licenses for election‑day registrations and upload voting history directly to election systems after voting. “With the iPads, voter information is kept more private … and there’s more accurate check‑in for the voters,” Larson said.

Larson told the board that one vendor recommended roughly one poll pad per 500 voters and offered a countywide package that would include about 40 poll pads and replacements for Cambridge’s 12 iPads. “There is a cellular option and a Wi‑Fi option … both are around $100,000,” she said. The county has received recurring state voter account grant funds; Larson said the grant amount is $40,340.93 per year and that 2024 funds remain available. With those grants, the county share of the purchase was estimated at roughly $60,000, split about $30,000 from townships and cities and $30,000 from the county under the prior cost‑sharing approach.

Evan Vogel, city administrator for Cambridge, described the city’s experience using e‑poll pads since they piloted them in 2018. Vogel said Cambridge uses fewer than the vendor’s suggested pads — the city runs 4–5 pads on typical election days and has rarely had problems. “We have had machines go down. That’s when we go into our store and we take one behind us and we put that one in the rotation,” Vogel said. He also described procedural safeguards: the e‑poll pads print an oath or receipt used to control ballot issuance, and judges still sit at every pad.

Commissioners asked about breakdowns of cost, replacement cycles and contingency plans if a device fails. Larson said the county would still print a single paper roster for use if a precinct’s devices fail and that judges would be certified to complete manual check‑in if needed. Commissioners raised concerns about training election judges and the long‑term replacement cost for tablets. “I’m more concerned about the long term cost and the probability of legislation approving this in the years going forward,” one commissioner said.

The board did not take a vote. Instead, members asked staff to present the proposal and options to the township association and to bring back details — including how many devices the county actually needs and an itemized cost breakdown — before any formal decision. Larson said she will consult other counties at the upcoming Minnesota Association of County Officers conference to gather ratio and operational data.

Next steps: staff will circulate the vendor quote, provide a device‑count recommendation and present the plan to townships before the board considers any procurement action.