The Butler County commissioners say the county is on track to have a new voting system up-and-running in time for the November general election.
On Wednesday, the Butler County Election Board (which does not include the commissioners because they’re running for re-election) approved a motion to look for companies to print 50,000 election ballots. Solicitor Julie Graham said it would be preliminary at this point to estimate how much this will cost.
In May, the county bought a new voting system that is paper-based. Voters will use a pen or pencil to color-in the oval next to a candidate’s name and then drop the ballot into a secure ballot box, where it will then be scanned into a computer and tabulated. The county previously used electronic machines.
Last year, the state mandated that all counties switch to a system with a verifiable paper record that could be referenced should there be a discrepancy.