Brown County approves destruction of obsolete VOTEC/GoTech election equipment; some peripherals salvaged

Brown County commissioners approved a motion to dismantle and destroy obsolete VOTEC/GoTech voting equipment after the county's elections administrator said the vendor went bankrupt and county IT determined the main units could not be refurbished.

The Redhawk elections administrator (speaker 7), who presented the item, described the contents of each stored box: "We have 18 GoTech machines inside each 1 of these machines. We have a signature tablet. We have a Brother made handers printer," and other peripherals, and said the equipment has been stored in climate-controlled conditions. The administrator said county IT examined the equipment and "said no" to refurbishing the computers and iPads.

Meeting discussion clarified that some peripherals — printers, scanners and mouse pads — could be removed and reused in county offices; the elections administrator noted he had already provided some printers to the district attorney's office. After discussion the board approved a motion to surplus/dismantle units deemed not usable and to salvage reusable components. The motion included an offer for commissioners or staff to inspect the units in the Election Room before disposal.

Motion and outcome: The motion to dismantle/destroy non‑usable equipment with salvage of usable parts was moved and seconded and passed in the meeting. The county will coordinate the salvage, inspection, and destruction process in accordance with county procedures.

Next steps: County elections staff will coordinate inspection for interested officials and proceed with disposition of non-usable units; salvaged peripherals will be redistributed to county offices as appropriate.