Heidi Bunch/MCIN
Christopher Nepper displays new voting machines that will be used in the upcoming elections for Mineral County.
Mineral County Clerk Christopher Nepper held an open house Monday night to introduce voters to the new voter equipment that the county has recently purchased.
“This is going to streamline the process and also we will be able to cut down our poll workers from around 20 to 13 so we will also be saving taxpayer money,” the clerk told the Independent-News.
The polls in Nevada close at 7 p.m. and in the past, election workers have had to burn the midnight oil fussing with picky equipment, incomplete ballots or other problems as they arise.
“The previous equipment was outdated and needed replaced for a number of reasons. Accuracy and we were having machine failures at epic levels,” Nepper explained about the equipment. “The previous equipment had a life cycle of about ten years and we used them for 12 years.”
Mineral County will see many changes in place during this year’s election. Instead of monstrous machines, all work will be done from two scanners, monitors and thumb drives.
The new system will also be able to communicate from all polling locations via the new kiosks which will be used at check in. Nepper explained that this will keep all numbers in check and provide the clerk’s office with a complete look at the election throughout the day.
While testing the new equipment, the Independent-News was able to cast their vote and see the results easily on the larger screens and printout. Residents are urged to stop by and ask question regarding the new equipment.
“We plan on providing a smooth and efficient election,” Nepper concluded.
How is cutting the polling crew from 20 to 13 workers and spending more $ on foreign-made technology good for Mineral County? By reverting to all-paper ballots even more money can be saved, the ballot boxes last for generations, the ballots leave a secure paper trail in case of recount, the system is immune to cyber attacks & hacking. In such a small county 20 poll workers could accurately count the ballots in due time. What’s the big hurry anyway?