After months of debating options, the Miami County Board of Elections voted 3-1 Tuesday to buy a paper ballot and scanning voting system to replace the touch-screen system in use since 2006. The new system could be in use by the May election. The vote came during a meeting to discuss the November election when 6,288 early voting ballots went uncounted. The board fired Director Beverly Kendall on Tuesday and said it would investigate. The Ohio Secretary of State said Tuesday night he was launching an investigation. Frank LaRose said the “failure by the Miami County Board of Elections is unacceptable.”
Elections board members debated a new voting system for months, deadlocking in 2-2 vote in December between Clear Ballot’s paper ballot and scanning system and Election Systems and Software’s hybrid system touch-screen system, which marks ballots that then are printed and scanned.
An analysis of proposals presented in December by board member Audrey Gillespie showed a cost difference of around $1 million between the systems: $1.877 million for the hybrid and $860,000 for the full paper system.
Full Article: Miami County switching to paper ballots after election error.