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Council approves contract for ballot insertion equipment; elections registrar says machines will automate mail assembly
Summary
Council approved an Article 13 contract with Quadian Incorporated to purchase automated insertion/collation and mailing equipment for internal ballot processing; Registrar Chris Comstock said the machines will fold, collate, seal and post ballots, reducing volunteer labor.
Northampton County Council on July 2 approved an Article 13 contract with Quadian Incorporated to purchase automated insertion and ballot-collation equipment for the elections office.
Chris Comstock, Registrar of Elections, explained the machines will perform insertion, folding, collation, sealing and posting of ballots and envelopes, replacing a labor-intensive volunteer process that previously required 20–30 volunteers over two days.
"What this machine is going to do is ... label the inner return envelope, label and address and post the outer envelope. It will also collate all of these envelopes together with the correct ballot," Comstock said, describing the equipment’s role in streamlining mail ballot processing.
A public commenter (Becky Bartlett) had asked for additional information before the vote; the registrar and administration described the devices as internal mail-processing/insertion machines rather than an outsourced mail house. Council adopted the contract resolution by recorded vote (adopted 9–0 in the meeting record).
Next steps: The County will proceed with the contract award and implement the machines in upcoming election mailings; the elections office reported plans to repurpose former electronic poll books for senior outreach.
