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County clerk previews April 8 municipal elections, ballot costs and voting-machine needs
Summary
The county clerk outlined the April 8 municipal elections schedule, early voting dates, anticipated turnout due to contested races and bond questions, and discussed ballot-printing costs and the need to evaluate and potentially replace aging voting machines to meet ADA and precinct requirements.
The county clerk briefed the commission on the April 8 municipal elections and associated preparations, saying ballots will be mailed and early voting will begin roughly six weeks before Election Day (ballot mailout estimated around Feb. 25; in-person early voting beginning about March 25). The clerk said several contested municipal and school board races and bond questions are expected to increase turnout from the typical ~7% to an estimated 10—15%.
The clerk discussed ballot-printing costs and the test-deck requirement for machine testing, which requires generating every possible vote combination for the precinct test; that process and the printing volume contribute to costs. The commission also received individual proposals for new voting machines; staff said the county's machines are among the oldest in the state and that ADA-compliant units and backups are costly, requiring one machine per precinct plus extras for absentee processing and backups.
Commissioners asked staff to share voting-machine proposals and to evaluate the cost of replacing precinct equipment, including ADA-compliant options, and to return with an overall recommendation.
