CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Bradley County Election Commission wants to upgrade the county’s voting machines instead of buying optical scan technology.
On Friday, the Election Commission voted 4-1 at a special meeting to recommend the county enter into an eight-year agreement with MicroVote, the manufacturer of the electronic voting panels that the county has used for several years. Dana Burgner cast the opposing vote.
Election officials, county commissioners and members of the Bradley County Democratic Party discussed factors such as cost, service, transportation of machines to precincts and the future of electronic voting systems.
The estimated cost per election amounted to $41,490 for an upgraded MicroVote system, compared to $63,944 for an optical scan system. The $15,625 annual maintenance program for the optical scan system was almost double that for MicroVote, which costs $8,857.
“There’s also that one unknown factor … of what if the state injects itself into the system and declares or demands that we change to a scanner system,” said Jim Minor, a member of the executive committee of the Bradley County Democratic Party. “One year, two years … five years out — we’re left holding the bag, and we’ll have to refinance a new system.”