As jurisdictions gear up for November 3 and next year’s Presidential Election, many are tasked with a complex expenditure— purchasing ballots for voters. By law, many jurisdictions are required to purchase enough ballots for 100% of their registered voters, a significant investment by itself. When you factor in low voter turnout, however, it isn’t always clear how many ballots a jurisdiction truly “needs”. How can elected officials comply with their election laws while still managing their cost per voter? Election System & Software’s Ballot on Demand solutions are just the ticket. Each Balotar prints the correct ballot as needed, eliminating the potential for ballots to go un-used, while also ensuring jurisdictions don’t run out of ballots on Election Day. The Balotar is an accurate, efficient and highly cost effective method for jurisdictions to manage the ballot printing and distribution for all of the choices voters have to cast their ballot. For more information about ballot on demand visit www.essvote.com/products/ballot-on-demand/or read below about Cleveland County’s pilot of the Balotar Compact printer from the Shelby Star. Early voters for the 2015 election in Cleveland County will get a chance to test out a new voting system.
Balotar, the new system, involves printing ballots on demand rather than ordering ballots for every registered voter. According to Clifton Philbeck, deputy director at Cleveland County Board of Elections, printing on demand prevents waste during the voting process.
“Typically, we order ballots, and we have to order 100 percent of the ballots,” Philbeck said. “With a low turnout, that’s a lot of waste. It wastes a lot of paper.”
Dayna Causby, director of elections at the Cleveland County Board of Elections, said the new system would be especially helpful in preventing waste during county and municipal elections, like the 2015 election, when voter turnout is generally lower.
Since the county is only testing the system during early voting, they also ordered ballots for voters in order to have a backup plan. The Board of Elections is required to test new voting systems before implementing them.
“We’re meeting the requirement, so the board can have the opportunity to make a choice over several different systems,” Causby said.
On demand ballot printing is currently used in both Buncombe and Johnston counties. Cleveland County is one of five North Carolina counties testing the system during this year’s early voting.
Full Article: Cleveland County, N.C. Tests Ballot On Demand Printing During Early Voting | Election Systems & Software.