County to buy new election equipment

County to buy new election equipment

Purchase will be funded in partnership with Secretary of State’s office

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Crittenden County will partner with the state to purchase all new election equipment.

Election Commission Chairwoman Dixie Carlson said County Judge Woody Wheeless has sent a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office taking them up on their offer to split the cost 50-50.

“The Quorum Court voted to get the equipment,” Carlson said. The state is offering to pay 50 percent of the cost to counties to replace aging election machines which are over ten years old. The Secretary of State’s Office has made $1 million available and Governor Asa Hutchinson has pledged $5 million from his budget to help acquire the equipment. The cost to replace voting equipment at all 24 of the county’s polling locations is $573,246. The state will pay $287,816 of that leaving the county to cover the remaining $285,429.

The Election Commission also presented the county with another option which would have reduced the number of polling sites from 24 to 12 and saved the county about $100,000.

Each location would instead be turned into a vote center which would allow residents to vote at any of those sites rather than poll specific sites based on where they are registered.

The Quorum Court rejected the proposal for vote centers citing concerns about rural area voters having transportation to the polls and possibly depressing voter turnout.

Twelve counties in Arkansas have established vote centers and have seen turnout increase. The county already has a vote center. Early voting is held at the county courthouse.

Carlson said election officials may experiment with vote centers at a later date. “There was a lot of resistance to vote centers on the Quorum Court,” Carlson said.

By Mark Randall