Palm Beach County was plagued by broken machines and missed deadlines this midterm election, putting them once again in the national spotlight. Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher blamed the problems on the machines, which at one point during the machine recount overheated, causing them to have to recount thousands of votes that had already been counted. Bucher said she has repeatedly asked for new machines for the past 10 years, but has been stuck using the eight machines already there when she took office in 2009. The problem is those machines use a software that only allow each individual race to be scanned at a time. Bucher said and the county confirmed there is money in the budget to the tune of $11.1 million set aside to pay for new counting equipment, but it hasn’t been purchased yet.
Right now, there is a small hold up with the voting systems they want to purchase being compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Bucher said it’s the number one priority for the upcoming legislative session is to make sure the machines will be compliant, so they can have them ordered and ready by 2020.
“Right now, it says it must be a makes sense ballot in order to comply with ADA requirements by 2020,” she said. “We want to add or a verifiable paper ballot, and we believe that will bring all of the equipment that’s currently being used throughout the state and the equipment that we intend to purchase into compliance.”
Full Article: When will Palm Beach County get new voting machines? | WPEC.