Election commission seeks and wins approval to destroy decommissioned voting machines

The Shelby County Election Commission asked the Board to approve an appropriation of $374,875 to pay an R2-certified vendor, Environmental Responsible Recyclers (ERR), to securely destroy decommissioned voting machines and related election equipment. Joe Young, chief deputy administrator at the Election Commission, said the cost had risen because secure storage costs had accumulated while the county delayed a prior procurement. He told commissioners the cheapest bids earlier would escalate if the county continued to delay.

Young said the vendor offered to destroy memory cards required to be destroyed at no additional cost and that the commission had provided responses to a set of 12 questions previously requested by the board. He also said state law (cited bills) authorized the Election Commission to select and destroy decommissioned equipment. The Board approved the appropriation after recorded roll-call votes and discussion.

Why it matters: Decisions about election equipment disposal can raise concerns about records retention and chain-of-custody; county and election officials said the memory cards do not contain vote records and that server backups and tape records will be retained as required by statute. The procurement was approved as a single-source action after a prior RFP produced only one bidder and storage costs rose monthly.