New voting machines delivered to Barry County
March 20, 2019
Vinnie Roberts
On Monday, March 3, large portions of the City Square in Cassville were blocked off for a very important delivery to the Barry County Courthouse. The cargo was a series of new voting machines that replaced the courthouse’s old ones.
In a matter of minutes, the new voting machines were stored within the courthouse and the old ones were sent away.
According to presiding commissioner Gary Youngblood, the biggest reason for the change had to do with the age of the machines. While the old machines did an adequate job of tallying votes and ensuring that the voting process went untampered, the new machines feature several new features that will ease the job of those counting votes in upcoming elections.
The most notable change with these new machines is the improved optical scanner. While the old voting machines featured an optical scanner that automatically tallied votes, it only had the capacity to tally votes for parties registered in the system. This new scanner will be able to scan the names of write-in candidates and track their votes in the same way without having their information inputted into the system beforehand.
“I’m excited about the new machines,” said Barry County Clerk Jill LeCompte. “I think that their new capability to read write-in candidates will really save our election judges a lot of time. I think It will be more accurate as well.”
In addition, the machines made for compliance Americans With Disabilities Act have also received an upgrade. They now feature an updated touch screen for ease of use.
The machines will be in use at the courthouse for the municipal election on April 2.
Vinnie Roberts
On Monday, March 3, large portions of the City Square in Cassville were blocked off for a very important delivery to the Barry County Courthouse. The cargo was a series of new voting machines that replaced the courthouse’s old ones.
In a matter of minutes, the new voting machines were stored within the courthouse and the old ones were sent away.
According to presiding commissioner Gary Youngblood, the biggest reason for the change had to do with the age of the machines. While the old machines did an adequate job of tallying votes and ensuring that the voting process went untampered, the new machines feature several new features that will ease the job of those counting votes in upcoming elections.
The most notable change with these new machines is the improved optical scanner. While the old voting machines featured an optical scanner that automatically tallied votes, it only had the capacity to tally votes for parties registered in the system. This new scanner will be able to scan the names of write-in candidates and track their votes in the same way without having their information inputted into the system beforehand.
“I’m excited about the new machines,” said Barry County Clerk Jill LeCompte. “I think that their new capability to read write-in candidates will really save our election judges a lot of time. I think It will be more accurate as well.”
In addition, the machines made for compliance Americans With Disabilities Act have also received an upgrade. They now feature an updated touch screen for ease of use.
The machines will be in use at the courthouse for the municipal election on April 2.