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County authorizes purchase of ES&S voting system using state grant funds; vote 2–0 after one commissioner could not be reached
Summary
The commission approved a contract allowing the county to acquire a new ES&S voting system paid with roughly $760,000 in state grant money; the clerk's office said the purchase will be reimbursed by the state and help prepare for the 2020 presidential election workload discussed by staff.
The Utah County Board of County Commissioners authorized the commission chair to sign a contract with Election Systems & Software (ES&S) to acquire a new voting system using available state grant funds.
Rosanna Mitchell of the Clerk/Auditor's Elections Division told the board the county does not have budgeted funds for a new system and will use approximately $760,000 in state grant money, plus some capital-project allocations already set aside for election needs, with the expectation the county will be reimbursed by the state. "Right now we have about 760,000 available to Utah County as part of this grant money," Mitchell said.
Mitchell said the county intends to acquire equipment in advance to meet needs for a presidential election cycle and that 24 of 29 counties in the state already use the ES&S system under state contract. The board agreed to suspend rules to permit a second and proceed with the vote while Commissioner Ivy was on the phone but not reachable; the motion passed 2to0.
The clerk's office will use the county grant line item and seek state reimbursement after purchase, reducing the capital set-aside by the reimbursable amount.
