North Carolina: Davidson County approves resolution regarding voting equipment | The Dispatch
On Tuesday, the Davidson County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted in favor of a resolution that asks the General Assembly to delay decertification of voting machines until the 2022 election. Davidson County uses direct record electronic voting machines that use electronic tabulation with a touch screen. A law passed in 2013 will decertify any system that doesn’t use paper ballots after Dec. 1. Jon Myers, chairman of the Davidson County Board of Elections, said the state prefers paper ballots because there are some who do not have confidence in the electronic voting system and that they would rather have individuals mark a ballot by hand. The county, along with 21 others, may have its voting machines decertified later this year. In the resolution, the Davidson County Board of Elections states that if its current equipment were decertified, the board would not have enough time for accurate testing, training and deployment in time for the elections in March 2020. “The legislation regarding the voting equipment requires that we test equipment before we can purchase,” Myers said. “So we would be required to test in the November municipal election before we can order. Even at best, there’s no way we could order before mid-November. … I think it’s a very difficult, if not impossible timeline to meet.”