Boone County Commission approves $825,000 for new voting equipment
The Boone County Commission approved the purchase of new voting equipment Tuesday morning.
Commissioners are spending $825,558 to buy new voting machines and voting software to replace old equipment. Boone County Clerk Brianna Lennon said the voting equipment is 13 years old.
According to Lennon, the old equipment was outdated.
“New voting machines make voting easier for poll workers and voters,” Lennon said.
Elections Systems and Software was awarded the bid to replace the old voting system. The machines are warrantied for two years. Equipment maintenance costs more than $61,000 each year after the warranty expires.
Elections System and Software supplies voting equipment for other Missouri counties. Johnson, Laclede and Greene counties and Kansas City also use the company to run their elections. According to a Boone County clerk evaluation, Election System and Software has installed more than 200,000 voting systems.
The bid comes $400,000 under budget from the previous Boone County clerk. According to Lennon, former Boone County Clerk Taylor Burks budgeted $1.2 million for a new voting system last year.
The next election in Boone County is scheduled for March 2020. Boone County voters will be able to use the new voting system at least four times next year starting in March.
Lennon said she wants voters to see and use the new voting machines before the elections scheduled for next year.
