by Madison White Franks
LANCASTER—At a May 3 budget work session, the Lancaster board of supervisors honored an immediate request from the electoral board for $21,250 to purchase new voting equipment.
This purchase was initially reflected in the budget supervisors are now drafting for next year.
However, assistant county administrator Don Gill told the board on Tuesday, May 8, that the equipment provider has informed voter registrar Susan Jett it will not be possible to get the equipment in time for the June 12 primary as intended.
Meanwhile, supervisors also agreed to conduct a public hearing May 31 on the proposed 2018-19 general fund budget, totaling $33.4 million. The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. at the County Administration Building, 8311 Mary Ball Road, Lancaster.
May 3 discussion
“What we are here for tonight is the check-in procedure that we have. Our equipment is old and obsolete…this year at the general election [machines at] every one of our precincts failed,” said electoral board secretary Lee Pulling. “The new equipment that we are requesting here is state of the art…it’s very reliable and very quick.
“We believe every vote counts and we do everything we can to assure our voters of that. We want to keep the confidence of our voters and that they have full confidence in our voting system,” he said…
