Minnesota’s local government officials say searching the eBay online auction site for voting machine parts is not the best way to keep the foundation of democracy running smoothly. The company that made much of Minnesota’s voting equipment, especially for disabled voters, has moved on to newer technologies and parts for machines used in most Minnesota polling places are hard to find. “The best answer to that is eBay,” Administrative Services Director Deborah Erickson, of Crow Wing County, told a Minnesota House committee Wednesday, before the panel approved a bill providing counties $14 million next year.
That is half the cost county officials say they need to spend to update equipment. Senators are considering legislation with less financial help.
It is not that when voters go to the polls they will encounter machines collapsing around them, Erickson said. Voting machines undergo regular tests.
“There is not a concern that the tabulating equipment is going to fall apart,” she added, but voting machines for the disabled may break down, and many precincts have just one of the machines.
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