Election Commission upgrades county voting machines

The Lauderdale County Election Commission is looking for November’s general election to go smoothly after the Board of Supervisors on Monday approve the purchase of new voting machines.

Election Commissioner Gloria Dancy said the county is upgrading from the DS200 to DS300. The machines are similar with the DS300 being faster at processing ballots. Lauderdale County has been using the DS200 machines for a decade, she said, so it’s time for an upgrade.

“The state is requiring that we update our voting equipment every 10 years,” she said. “We’re in our tenth year.”

Currently, the Election Commission has 62 voting machines to cover 37 voting precincts, which is more than the county needs. While upgrading, the commission is lowering that number to 47, to provide one for each precinct and 10 extras.

The county’s current voting machines will be traded in as part of the deal.

Also part of the purchase is a new machine that can be used to print ballots. Lauderdale County used to order both absentee and regular ballots, which were printed elsewhere and delivered for use in local elections. Having the ability to print ballots locally is an asset should a precinct run out of ballots or more absentee ballots be needed.

Dancy said the $269,265 voting equipment purchase will be paid for with funds received from the state. Each county receives funds based on population, with the money to be used for election equipment.

“We do have this money in the budget. The state has given us this money to upgrade our election equipment,” she said.

Lauderdale County was one of the first counties in Mississippi to switch from electronic voting machines to scannable paper ballots. Supervisor Kyle Rutledge said the paper ballot process has proven itself to be much easier and faster for county residents compared other equipment the county has used in the past.

With the upgrade to the DS300, Election Commissioners expect the process to move even quicker and reduce the amount of time it takes after polls close to produce unofficial results.