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Westborough election official recommends replacing aging tabulators and poll pads ahead of 2028 elections
Summary
The town's chief election officer asked the Capital Planning Committee to replace several aging DS200 tabulators and to update poll pads so all six precincts share consistent hardware and security features; she cited unit costs ($7,000 per tabulator; $1,800 per poll pad), noted the state must approve DS300 tabulators before they can be used, and discussed maintenance and lifecycle planning.
The Town of Westborough's chief election officer, Deborah, told the Capital Planning Committee that the town's current DS200 tabulator scanners are reaching the end of their useful life and that the state is in the process of approving DS300 tabulators for use.
"In fiscal year 27, I'm recommending that the town replace the 5 oldest scanners and also the newer scanner that's in Precinct 6," she said, explaining that the DS200 units have a minimum life expectancy of about 10 years and that several units will exceed that in FY27. She recommended bringing all precinct scanners to a consistent generation to improve processing speed, accuracy and physical security (tamper-evident seals, secure boot to prevent unauthorized software).
Deborah cited unit costs from vendors: tabulator units roughly $7,000 each and poll pads (including battery bases and printers) about $1,800 each. She said trade-in values are minimal (DS200 trade-in roughly $200; poll pads have little or no trade-in value) and that the election vendor currently does annual maintenance visits. Any new equipment will also be covered by a service/maintenance contract.
Committee members asked about timing and training. Deborah said the state must test and approve new tabulators before they can be put into service and that staff will need to train election workers and wardens on any new machines. She also explained that because early voting has expanded, additional poll pads were purchased in recent years and lifecycle planning calls for poll pad replacements about every five years and scanner replacements about every 10 years; she flagged potential follow-up replacement requests in FY32 and FY37.
Next steps: the committee will consider this request as part of its FY27 slate; staff will provide final cost breakout and any recommended phasing so the committee can score the project against other needs.
