KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — The hundreds of election workers who make the vote possible in Kalamazoo County got a chance to check out the new elections equipment that will be in use when voters go to the polls this November.
We were also invited to the sneak preview.
Don’t think you are being clever when you point out that the new tabulators look like Herby-Curby’s, because they have heard all the jokes about taking out the trash on election day, and throwing your vote away, and they no longer think they are funny.
For voters, it will be the same routine. Fill in the dots and feed the tabulator.
Clerk Tim Snow says the upgraded gear will help election workers do their job more efficiently. It is more reliable and has a big screen that tells you in an instant if a ballot has been spoiled.
He says they have purchased 125 tabulators, one for each precinct, a few for clerks offices to count absentee ballots and a few spares.
He says it’s just as hack proof and secure as their previous system.
The cities of Kalamazoo and Portage have also acquired high speed tabulators for the growing number of absentee ballots, and there is a new and better system called the Express Vote, that will be used to help disabled voters, who can’t fill out a regular ballot, have their votes counted as well.
