Sandoval County appears unlikely to see a repeat of the long lines of November 2012, with a large number of voting convenience centers and voting machines lined up for this year’s primary and general elections. In October, the Albuquerque Journal reported, the county commission approved 17 voting centers in Rio Rancho and two in Corrales for the two elections the county’s Bureau of Elections will conduct in 2014. Rio Rancho had just five voting convenience centers in the 2012 general election. Various reports from that night indicated some Rio Rancho residents waited between three and five hours to vote. For the June 3 primary, the bureau expects to have 66 computer stations set up at voting centers to print ballots on-demand as voters check in. The bureau also plans to have two voting machine for counting completed ballots in each voting center, spokesman Sidney Hill said. The voting centers that consolidate the most precincts will receive the most systems for printing ballots on demand, he said.
During the November 2012 election, each polling location was equipped with three computers for printing ballots, the Observer reported shortly after that election. “For the general, the bureau has requested 99 on-demand printing systems. The plan is for each center to have five or six of the printing systems,” Hill said.
He said the bureau is waiting to see “how many systems the Secretary of State has at her disposal and is able to allocate to each county.”
Last month, the Journal reported the state spent about $6 million on new voting machines, which will be used in the June 3 primary election in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Valencia, San Juan and Doña Ana counties.
Full Article: County secures more voting machines for shorter waits | Albuquerque Journal News.