Macon County’s first wholesale election hardware change in nearly two decades passed its big test last week.
The election simulation with the HART Verity Touch Writer ballot counters was originally scheduled to take up to three days starting Jan. 25. However, the simulation went off without a hitch and was completed within a day at the Robert Carpenter Community Building. The simulation was open to the public.
“It went super, it went really fast, faster than expected,” Macon County Elections Director Melanie Thibault said. “We thought it would last up to three days; it went a day.”
The simulation consisted of election workers feeding ballots into the machines, which counts and secures the votes.
Thibault said the new HART systems will save the county thousands of dollars during one-stop voting as they can now print their own ballots, instead of having to order ballots. The HART Verity Touch Writer can process a ballot in five seconds whereas the M100 systems, which the county has used for nearly two decades, took 10-12 seconds.
Thibault said that for voters, the only difference will be the size of the ballots and the machine they put the finished ballot into. The HART systems are Windows 10 based, whereas the previous systems were Windows 7, which isn’t serviced anymore.
The HART systems don’t immediately accept ballots with issues on them, such as markings for multiple candidates in a single-candidate election, and will show what the problem is on a touch screen. The machines only require a power supply and have their own battery packs in case of a power outage. The machines are not connected to the internet in any way.
Deputy Director Judy Fritts said the new ADA-compliant HART machines come with remote controls and features for people with different accessibility needs.
The next step is to recommend the new HART systems to the State Board of Elections, then for Thibault to go back to the Board of County Commissioner to say the new equipment can be purchased. Thibault said she should be presenting the state recommendation at the next county commissioners’ meeting on Feb. 14. The machines are planned to be used for November’s municipal elections.