In session Monday morning, December 20, Brown County Commissioners approved purchase of new state mandated voting machines that carry a hefty price tag of $647,611. Money to pay for the new voting machines will come out of the American Rescue Plan funds, then, a reimbursement will come from the State of Texas for all but about $16,000 of the total amount. The reimbursement money will go back into the American Rescue Plan fund account.
The goal is to have these voting machines in operation by the March 2022 Primary Election.
“That is our goal. We want these new machines on board for the March 1st Primary,” said Larry Franks, Brown County Elections Administrator.
The new machines are from a company called Hart Intercivic. They will be touchscreen ballot marking with an auditable paper trail.
“These new machines will be touchscreen. You will make your selection on the screen. When you get to the end, you’re still going to see a review, like you did on the current machines, you’ll have a listing of all the races and all the people that you voted for. If you agree that it recorded what you wanted, hit cast ballot and it’s going to spit out a paper ballot for you to read again. You’re going to verify a second time then you’re going to feed the paper into a ballot counter,” Franks said. The voting machines are also designed to be user friendly for those with disabilities.
The elections office hopes to have the new machines delivered next month to prepare them for use in March.