Delaware County’s iPad election upgrades to cost $325,000

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The Delaware County Board of Elections estimates that it will cost about $325,000 to equip all polling places with iPads.

The state, however, is expected to pick up $202,577 of the cost, leaving the county to pay for the remaining $122,423.

Officials say the electronic poll books will streamline the entire election process, from checking voters in to tallying ballots.

Election officials are eager to move quickly. They do not want to implement any major changes in a presidential election year, especially with the national scrutiny Ohio regularly receives.

“We really do not want to roll out any major change in a presidential primary or a presidential election,” said Karla Herron, deputy director at the board of elections.

The county looked to move to electronic poll books in 2013. However, the board of elections opted not to move in that direction and returned $450,000 to the county’s general fund.

“Once we looked at all the options and the technology we just didn’t see that it was a good fit for Delaware County,” he said. “Quite frankly, we didn’t think it was advanced enough for us.”

The state has since then added $12.7 million to its budget to assist counties with the transition.

The county will train its poll workers on how to use the equipment.

Through a pilot program in the spring, in which iPads were used at two polling locations, there was some trepidation beforehand, according to Josh Pedaline, director of the board of elections. However, all involved seemed fine with the technology in retrospect.

The equipment is expected to last about 10 years.

By Dustin Ensinger

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Dustin Ensinger can be reached at 740-413-0902 or on Twitter @EnsingerDG.

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