Paper ballots could be in the future for Greene County residents, should the county not have the money to afford new, electronic equipment. It was a matter members of the Greene County Election Commission had to consider when listening to a sales pitch made by HARP Enterprises/HART Intercivic election equipment during their regular monthly meeting Tuesday. HART manufactures election equipment while HARP is the service provider once a sale is completed. The election commission is exploring the possibility of replacing the county’s voting machines. New voting equipment was last purchased in 2006. Commissioners heard from the company MicroVote last month.
Administrator of Elections Donna Burgner said at that time that the board “felt it … would be a good time to evaluate all that is available to them.” She said funds were available to the county to help purchase new equipment via the Help America Vote Act. Greene County is eligible for $420,000.
Even though no concrete quotes were provided to the commission, those funds would not be enough to purchase electronic equipment from HARP/HART.
“If it was the paper system you were interested in, it’s going to require less voting equipment than an electronic system, because you don’t need a machine for every single voter,” said Chad Colgan, a representative of HARP Enterprises. “Based on that, that funding you have from the state should completely cover the cost of that voting system. For the electronic solution … probably out of pocket for the county you’re looking somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 to $200,000.”
Full Article: Election Commission Weighs Paper Ballots | Local News | greenevillesun.com.