BENTONVILLE -- Going back to paper ballots will cost Benton County about $400,000 next year if it decides not to buy new electronic voting machines.
The Election Commission reviewed and approved two budgets for 2018, one based on a plan to buy voting machines and another to cover the cost of using the old machines and paper ballots.
What’s Next
Benton County’s Finance Committee will hear an update on new voting equipment when the panel meets at 6 p.m. tonight in the Quorum Courtroom at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville.
Source: Benton County
"We're planning for the worst, just in case the worst happens and the Quorum Court doesn't come through with the money for the new machines," Russ Anzalone, Election Commission chairman, said Wednesday. "I hate to spend almost half a million dollars on paper ballots."
Kim Dennison, election coordinator, told commissioners she can't say how many of the old Ivotronic voting machines will be working. The county has 489 of the machines, with 261 of those having been bought when new and the other 228 were obtained from other counties that have new voting machines approved by the state, Dennison said.
"I can't guarantee these things aren't going to break down before we get them out the door," Dennison said of the old voting machines. "If that happens, we have to have enough paper ballots."
The county wants elected officials and department heads to submit their 2018 budgets by Friday.
County officials hoped Gov. Asa Hutchinson might release some money for counties to buy voting equipment. Hutchinson told a gathering of officials at a recent Association of Arkansas Counties meeting there were other demands on the available money and he couldn't say money would be available for new voting machines. County Judge Barry Moehring said the county will continue to work with the state to try and make money for the new machines available to Benton County.
Benton County drafted a $2.6 million list of new equipment to replace old machines and other equipment. With state money unavailable, at least for now, that list has been pared to equipment officials think is the minimum needed for 2018. The cost is estimated at $1.5 million. Officials expect a smaller turnout in 2018 than the 97,738 people who voted in 2016 because there's no presidential contest. An additional 175 voting machines with a cost of about $750,000 would be needed for the 2020 presidential election year.
The county has discussed financing the purchase of the machines over three to five years as an alternative to paying the full cost at once, said Brenda Guenther, comptroller. The annual cost to finance half the equipment initially requested was estimated around $400,000 in May when the county sought information on funding options.
The county would decrease the number of election day vote centers from 44 to 35 and reduce the number of voting machines needed on election day from 475 to 300 under the $1.5 million plan.
The county will return to paper ballots and precinct-based voting instead of vote centers if the money isn't available, Dennison said. The number of possible ballot styles is estimated at more than 1,300 because of changes in election laws that place school elections on the same days as primary and general elections. That total exceeds the memory of the flash drives in the older machines. The county had 338 ballot styles for the 2016 primary election and 200 ballot styles for the 2016 general election.
The county would need most of its older 462 machines on election day, Dennison said. That would reduce off-site early voting locations from the seven that were used in 2016. Early voting also was available at the three offices of the County Clerk. There could be more off-site early voting locations if suitable places can be found and if new equipment is available, Dennison said.
NW News on 09/07/2017