Election office seeks $8,580 to move Rotomat machine; debate prompts executive session

The Sumner County election commissioner asked the commission for $8,580 from the general fund to move one Rotomat machine to 1019 Union School Road to support the upcoming election cycle.

Election office staff described the Rotomat as an ergonomic, alphabetically organized storage-and-work unit that would allow staff to process voter-file changes at waist height and avoid heavy lifting. An election office speaker said the county will need to physically touch about 129,000 voter registration cards because of recent congressional redistricting, and staff argued moving a Rotomat would reduce repetitive lifting and the risk of injury.

“Anytime there's a change made to anyone's voter registration application... a person has to physically touch that card,” the election office speaker said, adding, “We’re going to have to touch 129,000 cards.” Staff also noted each Rotomat machine had cost taxpayers about $85,000 and said the office had not used some units in the building for nine to 10 months.

Commissioners questioned whether the requested move was appropriate while a building’s status remained in dispute. One commissioner said approving new moves would be problematic while an injunction and possible changes to facility use remained unresolved. That exchange prompted the chair to call for an executive-session motion to discuss the injunction.

The commission voted to enter executive session to consider the legal status of the facility and the pending injunction. The motion to go into executive session was moved and seconded and passed on a voice vote; the open meeting recessed for the closed discussion.

Next steps: the commission will consider the injunction and facility-status information in closed session; no appropriation to move the Rotomat was recorded in the open meeting minutes at this time.