Jackson County to buy new ballot scanning system in time for 2016 election
The Jackson County Election Board will spend nearly $1.4 million for new voting machines in time for the 2016 presidential election.
The current system is nine years old, two years past the lifespan certified by the federal government. To reduce costs, the board plans to reduce the number of polling places so that it will not have to buy as many machines.
For the general election in November of next year, voters will cast ballots at 189 polling places in the non-Kansas City portions of Jackson County, compared with 207 in 2012 and 250 in 2008.
The Jackson County Legislature approved the purchase Monday along with a 10-year financing plan. Minus a downpayment, the board will owe $1 million under the lease-purchase agreement.
Like the current system, the machines will scan paper ballots, but that ballot will be on a single, rather than multiple pages, Republican election board director Tammy Brown said.
| Mike Hendricks, mhendricks@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published August 31, 2015 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Jackson County to buy new ballot scanning system in time for 2016 election."