Commissioners discuss election upgrades

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Gonzales County Commissioners Court heard a presentation on a new voting system Monday morning. Express Vote is the newest trend in ease of access voting equipment and If implemented it would change the way Gonzales County votes.

Matt Kunz, representative with Elections Systems & Software, said Express Vote has been adopted as the preferred voting method in counties all across Texas, including large urban counties like Bexar and small rural counties such as neighboring Lavaca County.

The county's current electronic voting machines weigh 83 pounds and are cumbersome for election officials to move. The next-generation upgrade presented to commissioners weighs just 16 pounds.

In addition to the more compact design, the Express Vote is fully touch screen, does not hold votes, prints out a verification ballot and is tamper-proof. Kunz also reported every machine is ADA (American Disability Act) approved and, because of the plug-and-play portability, lack of internet connection and backup lithium ion battery, can even be taken out to a vehicle for voters who cannot make it inside the polls.

Each machine would cost the county approximately $3,500, plus some add-on components like ballot counters the county needs to factor in.

Kunz said the company is flexible about payments and can defer start-up until the next county budget is in effect and even finance the purchase.

Commissioners and voting officials agreed this is the direction the county needs to go and the project will be on an upcoming agenda.

Saving to the county is un calculated, but paper cost could be cut by nearly 70 percent, because the ballot enters the machine as a blank; and man hours could also be cut because the electronic counting process is almost instant.

In other business, commissioners addressed a routine agenda. Commissioners agreed to: hiring a part-time employee, effective Jan. 5, to work on courthouse maintenance Tuesday through Thursday; and another part-time position, effective the same day, to train for a full-time position that will be filled when another employee retires in early 2018; receiving the gift of a new sign from the Waelder New Millennium Lions Club, for use at the Pct. 2 Barn; extend a contract with BIS Digital, for the courtroom recording system; and rescission of the order authorizing the creation of a previously approved County Energy Transportation Reinvestment Zone, because of a state-level repeal in the Transportation Code.

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