Electronic poll books are coming to the county

LANCASTER – Next year, when you go into a polling station to vote in Fairfield County, poll workers may not be opening the great big reamed books of voters by precinct to verify your voting status and get your signature.

The poll workers might just pull out a laptop computer or a tablet, scan your Ohio Driver’s license or state identification card to validate voters and have you sign on the screen. There are also manual settings for those who don’t have a license or state identification card.

The Fairfield County Board of Elections is currently deciding which of seven state-approved electronic poll book systems will be used in the county.

“The security and integrity of the system is our most important concern,” said BOE director Susan Bloom. “But this will decrease the amount of time our staff has to work prior to elections and make it quicker for voters who turn out to the polls.”

Licking County’s board of elections has been using electronic poll books since 2013.

“Our poll workers love them. They are a lot easier than using the old paper books and the computers are user-friendly,” said Licking County BOE deputy director Sue Penick.

“The public likes them because it is so much quicker to vote, with shorter waiting periods in line,” Penick said.

Bloom said Fairfield County Board of Elections staff members now spend two or three days to build and verify the paper poll books currently used that are delivered to poll sites on election days.

“Those reams of paper were heavy, as well,” Bloom said. “With the electronic poll book systems it takes just a matter of minutes to upload the information.”

Depending on the type of system purchased for Fairfield County, they may need as many as 150 of the machines. There are 99 precincts in Fairfield County.

Pennick said Licking County spent around $200,000 for their machines in 2012.

“Until we decide which program to go with and how many machines we will be needing, I’m not sure what the cost would be,” Bloom said. “That’s part of what we are doing right now. On Tuesday, we were able to meet with all seven companies and they told us about their systems and we are going over the pros and cons of each.”

Under a state program, Fairfield County will purchase its machines with a state grant where the county is responsible for 15 percent of the cost and the state will pick up the additional 85 percent.

“The new system would also pay for itself with savings in paper, ink, photocopying and labor time used in the old system in the first full election cycle,” Bloom said.

Bloom said they hoped to have a new electronic poll book system in place sometime next year.

cburnett@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4346

Twitter: @CarlBurnettJr