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Board weighs upgrade to aging tabulators and ballot software to reduce election‑night errors
Summary
Members discussed replacing the DS450 tabulator with a DS950 and updating ballot-creation software to address misfeeds, blank ballots and mapping problems; the vendor contract is under legal review and an additional appropriation has been submitted if needed.
The Elkhart County Election Board on June 24 discussed replacing aging tabulation equipment and updating ballot-creation software to address problems that occurred during the most recent election.
Patty Pickkins described the current high-speed tabulator in use (DS450) as "end of life" and presented a vendor quote to upgrade to a DS950 and to update the software used to create printed ballots. "If we're going to upgrade, it's called the DS950. It's faster, it's more efficient," Pickkins said, noting that the upgrade would reduce the risk of ballot misreads and the need to re-create printed ballots that on election night prevented the tabulator from reading all ballots.
Pickkins said the county has experienced issues including blank ballots and misfeeds and described how newer software would provide supervisor controls and improved mapping for the state site. She estimated the set of upgrades could resolve roughly 75% of the types of issues the county encountered in the prior election cycle.
Legal staff has reviewed the contract and requested edits; the vendor must respond before the county can finalize a contract. Pickkins said an additional appropriation request has been submitted in case the county needs to pull funding prior to contract completion.
Board members expressed support for making the equipment and software improvements but did not approve a final contract at the meeting. The contract will be returned to the board and the county commissioners for approval once vendor responses and legal language are finalized.
Ending: The board will await the vendor's contract revisions and legal review; staff has filed for an additional appropriation if needed and will present a finalized contract to commissioners for approval.
