The Will County Board voted Thursday to use $7.8 million in cash reserves for new election equipment to be in place for the 2024 presidential primaries.
The equipment will replace existing hardware and software that has exceeded its life expectancy or is nearing the end of its useful life, the county clerk’s office said. Ballot tabulators are more than 20 years old. Hardware often can’t be replaced because of its age, and machines that are compliant with the American with Disabilities Act are also old and bulky.
“We are working with outdated equipment and our platforms are obsolete,” Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry said. “We just want to make sure we have up-to-date equipment.”
The new equipment, which would be operational countywide, would ensure there won’t be any system disruptions, officials said.
Staley Ferry has been reviewing five vendors’ election equipment, poll books and software systems.
After the county board authorized the funding by a unanimous vote, she will begin formal negotiations with the election vendors before buying the equipment.
Residents will still see the paper ballots they are comfortable with, Staley Ferry said.
More Top Picks Best 5g Phones
Paper ballots will record voter intent for audits or recounts. State-of-the-art tabulators, which will have no wireless communication capabilities, will have limited, specific functions. Tabulators will record the marks made by voters on their ballots and scan and retain ballot images for documenting write-in results, county documents said.
The equipment will be easier for the county clerk’s staff, election judges and residents, Staley Ferry said. The equipment will be modern, familiar and simple for voters to understand when they cast their ballots at a polling place or during early voting.
Elections in Will County have been safe and secure, and residents should feel confident in the new equipment as well, Staley Ferry said.
“Our elections have always been secure,” she said. “We will continue to do the same checks and balances.”
The election equipment is expected to last 10 to 15 years, and the clerk’s office is developing a replacement plan so any new or next generation equipment bought as part of the plan will function with the upgraded operating systems, according to county documents.
Board Chair Judy Ogalla, a Republican from Monee, said the board looked at several ways to fund the election equipment purchase and decided there was more than enough funds in its cash reserves rather than financing the purchase, building the cost into future budgets or using federal pandemic relief grant funds.
Ogalla said the county board recognized the importance of modernizing its equipment, especially with next year’s presidential election, which will draw a large turnout.
“This impacts every single polling place in Will County,” Ogalla said. “That’s pretty important.”
Will County has 454,714 registered voters as of last month, the clerk’s website said.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.