By Ray King

Jefferson County will soon be getting new voting machines just in time for the November General Election.

At a special meeting Thursday afternoon, Mike Adam, chairman of the County Board of Election Commissioners said E.S.& S. (Election Systems and Software) will send 148 new machines which will replace the current machines that have been in use for a number of years.

The new ballot marker machines, poll tablets and printers are being paid for by the Arkansas Secretary of State’s Office and Adam said the commission hopes to have the new machines on hand in June.

Adam also said the new machines will operate differently from the current machines and explained how voters will cast their ballots.

He said when a voter arrives at their polling site, they will receive a card and an election worker will sign the voter in to an electronic tablet which will look up the voter’s history to ensure that they had not voted early or at another site.

Adam said the voter will then insert the card into the ballot marker which will print out the ballot specifically for that voter’s ward and precinct. After the voter makes their choices, the card will be removed and inserted into a tablet which will automatically record the vote. Adam said the card will also be retained if needed in the event of a recount.

In a related matter, the Commission voted to ask County Judge Gerald Robinson and the county’s recycling department for help in disposing of the old voting machines, printer packs and tabulators.

According to the letter sent to Robinson, power strips and battery packs will need to be removed separately before the items are taken to the recycling center. The process of removing the batteries and power cords takes about four minutes.

Adam is also asking Robinson and the Quorum Court for $20,000 so that the commission can began preparations for the November General Election and said in a second letter than approximately $60,000 will be needed for the General Election but the exact amount won’t be known until the final cost of the March 3 election is determined.