Columbia County is one of four counties in the state chosen by the Secretary of State’s Office as a “pilot program,” to receive new voting equipment for the March 1, 2016 Primary Election. The other three counties were Boone, Garland, and Sebastian counties.
This equipment is being provided by the SOS at no cost to the county. County clerks in these four counties served on an advisory board to make the vendor selection. Election Systems & Software (ES&S) was chosen as the vendor for this new voting equipment.
Columbia County Clerk Sherry Bell said Tuesday that Election Systems & Software (ES&S) was selected as the vendor for the new equipment. At the Columbia County Quorum Court meeting Monday, Justices of the Peace approved a resolution choosing this voting system to be used in county elections.
Bell told the JP’s that Columbia County was chosen to participate in this pilot program “because we have had such good results, and we were proactive in the Help America Vote Act.”
At a finance committee meeting held earlier this month, Bell said that Columbia County was receiving this equipment for free “because of how our county was proactive, went outside the box and worked for the Help America Vote Act. They want us to be a pilot county, which is great deal because that means we’re getting it right in Columbia County.”
“They could have chosen Union County or Ouachita County but they chose us, and that’s wonderful because we’re going to get our equipment and maintenance and all that - from what I understand - at no cost because we’re going to be a pilot county,” she continued. “That’s going to be a huge savings to us.”
Bell said the equipment is at the courthouse, and work is expected to begin next week on unpacking, connecting and testing the equipment, with training to begin in December. She said Tuesday that Rob Hammons, director of the elections division for the SOS, is scheduled to be in Columbia County on Dec. 15 to conduct a demonstration of the new equipment and to answer questions.