Secretary of State Al Jaeger said it’s time to replace the state’s voting machines.
And he’ll be asking the 2017 Legislature to pay for them.
Jaeger said the current machines were purchased in 2004, to comply with the “Help America Vote Act.” And he said at that time, those weren't the most up to date devices.
"But everybody in the nation was buying election equipment," Jaeger said. "We had to do that. And qwe had certain deadlines to meet."
Jaeger said his office has issued a “Request for Proposals” to vendors, to get an idea of how much the price tag will be. He had earlier thought he might ask that those proposed costs be part of Gov. Dalrymple's executive budget proposal.
"There will be a bill introduced as an agency bill," Jaeger said. "Along with the counties, we will educate legislators as to its need, and how important it is."
Jaeger while he’s confident the current devices will work for this year’s election, they need to be updated.
"Hopefully, that even in the tight budget constraints that we have, somehoe funds could be identified to support the purchase," Jaeger said. "If we have good equipment, we can provide good election administration."
