Delaware County to use iPads for November 3 election

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The Delaware County Board of Elections will be replacing paper and pens with more modern technology.

County poll workers will check voters in at their polling places with iPads, which election officials say will streamline the process.

“I think our poll workers are going to find it to be very easy to use,” said Josh Pedaline, director of the board of elections. “People are comfortable with that technology now.”

The county plans to contract with KNOWink to implement the program. The cost is still unknown at this point, but Pedaline said he expects to finalize the numbers and seek approval from county commissioners in the near future.

The technology will streamline the process on both the front end and back end.

For instance, county election officials spend a great deal of time scanning signatures into paper poll books. With the new technology, the process will be much quicker.

The iPads will also help get voters in and out of their polling places faster, according to Pedaline.

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

Through a pilot program in the spring, in which the the iPads were used at two polling locations, Pedaline said there was some trepidation beforehand. However, all involved seemed fine with the technology in retrospect.

“It’s very intuitive,” he said.

Despite the fact that poll workers tend to skew older, Pedaline said he does not anticipate any problems with the new technology.

“Any change is a little concerning but we feel it’s technology people use on a regular basis anyway,” he said.

Pedaline believes the change will be one that both voters and poll workers will welcome.

“We’re very excited about it. We feel like it’s a win for Delaware County,” he said, adding the change is part of the board of elections’ “commitment to giving out voters the best experience on election day.”

By Dustin Ensinger

[email protected]

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

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