I still remember the first time I voted. The heavy-looking voting machine seemed as bulky as an upright double freezer. I remember pulling the curtain handle and flipping the little levers to make my selections for the various races. 

That colossal equipment was replaced in 2002 with pass-through grant funding from the state. Congress had passed the Help America Vote Act and provided most of the money for counties to modernize. Sedgwick County kicked in the remaining 10% and that is how we acquired the voting equipment most of us have grown accustomed to these last 15 years. Obviously, the time has come once again to upgrade this newer worn-out equipment. Unfortunately, there is not more grant funding. The cost is ours alone. 

Wisely, in 2012, the county started planning for this purchase. Over the next five years, the county saved up enough revenue to replace the iVotronic machines with the latest cutting-edge technology. Last year, the county election office performed extensive analysis on various voting platforms. Many people from the public also weighed in and together, a clear consensus developed about which equipment was the best. The cost: about $6,000,000. 

The voting process itself also needed to be upgraded. New features such as a per-person paper ballot audit trail are a must-have. These new machines have many features to ensure every vote will count and the results will be accurate. 

Nevertheless, Sedgwick County will push the legislature once again to pass a law that would let us and make us perform election audits. Until now, judges have ruled that audits ‘could’ potentially identify specific elector’s choices and therefore the paper-trail couldn’t be legally audited. Not being able to perform a paper trail audit has reasonably caused some distrust. If we cannot legally double check the results of the electronic voting machines, how can we prove they accurately tallied the voter’s choices? 

Looking forward to 2018, we are hopeful the county’s effort to pass election machine auditing will pass. The good news is, we are ready. This robust new equipment is designed to be audited. Every voter’s selections are printed on an individual paper ballot which is then electronically tallied. Just as easily, during an audit, the paper ballots can simply be hand counted and the totals cross checked. 

By investing and upgrading the voting equipment and process, Sedgwick County is working for you.