County eyes new election system

The St. Francois County Clerk’s office is looking at replacing voting equipment in the near future and is having an open meeting Wednesday at Election Central for a demonstration of a new voting system.

County Clerk Kevin Engler said a St. Louis company that is doing business in 35 states will be there to show the county about a system that can print any ballot at any precinct location.

“They’re just one company, but we want to see if it is viable to consolidate some precincts,” he said. “The only way we can do that is if we can print any ballot at any location. We are going to test that system and see what it looks like and get some questions answered about the viability of doing some changes.

“We have to do something. More than a third of our precincts aren’t in compliance with the ADA laws. We are having a tough time getting enough poll workers and we have a terrible turnout. We have to figure how to up the turnout. That’s what we’re going to look at and see how this fits in.”

Engler stresses that nothing is changing for the November election and nothing is yet changing for the April election.

“We will have to have that open to the public to talk about it too,” he said.

The demonstration will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Election Central at 1101 Weber Road in Farmington.

Poll workers turn in precinct results at Election Central at the Weber Road Facility in April.

Mark Marberry is a reporter for the Farmington Press and Daily Journal. He can be reached at 573-518-3629, or at mmarberry@farmingtonpressonline.com