TRURO-The Truro Select Board has voted to use an electronic tabulator for elections in the town going forward.
Truro will be using a product from LHS Associates–specifically its newest machine, the ImageCast Precinct Optical Scan Tabulator–in favor of counting ballots by hand. LHS products are primarily used throughout the state and on the Cape, in towns such as Barnstable, Falmouth, and Wellfleet.
Assistant Town Manager Kelly Clark said that the machine will lead to a more efficient voting experience.
“From the voters’ perspective, they would come up, they would check in as usual…and then they would take a ballot that they’ll fill the circles in on, and then they would personally feed the ballot through the machine, where it goes into a secured box,” Clark explained.
The tabulator will be able to recognize any mistakes on a ballot, such as too many candidates chosen for a certain position. The machine does not have a modem, and has a battery backup in case power goes down on Election Day.
It will also likely not have to be emptied on Election Day, thus enhancing ballot security. It can collect up to 3,000 ballots, and the town has just under 2,000 registered voters, according to Clark.
Three secured boxes would be utilized: one for straight ballots with no additions or errors, another with write-in candidates chosen, and a third for ballots with errors on them. Ballots submitted with errors that voters wish to continue to push through will be hand counted. From there, handwritten votes would be combined with the machine’s statistics to reach an accurate final tally.
Clark explained that the machine would reduce the amount of moving parts working during an election.
“While there would still be check-in and check-out tellers and a floater, you wouldn’t need as many people to stay and count,” she continued.
Clark pointed to the 2016 election, where the final count took at least two and a half hours to complete. State audits from that same election showed that 48 LHS machines had 100% accuracy.
The town’s ballot has to be sent to LHS a few weeks in advance of an election, and the company will then program the machine and print the ballots to be used. The only exception is in state elections, where the state will provide the ballots. LHS also offers training and resources leading up to and during elections, as well as an insurance plan of $200 annually.
LHS quoted the price of the machine at $5,200; money for the tabulator will come from a reserve fund transfer.
Provincetown is now the only remaining town on Cape Cod to count election ballots exclusively by hand.
About Brendan Fitzpatrick
