Optical scan voting coming to county

Southeast Missourian

The Cape Girardeau County Commission approved a $194,250 bid Thursday for the purchase of optical scan election equipment made necessary by the Help America Vote Act.

The bid went to Henry M. Adkins & Son Inc., the same company that let the county use its equipment on an experimental basis for the last two elections.

Adkins' bid was tied for the lowest of three bids and had fewer extra costs for things such as batteries and related equipment.

Of the $194,250, the state will kick in $121,304, leaving the county footing a $72,946 bill. The county will pay three annual payments of $24,315 at no interest to the company.

"There's no question this was the best deal," county clerk Rodney Miller told the county commission at Thursday morning's meeting. "I thought it would be up closer to the $100,000 range for us."

The optical scan equipment eliminates the punch-card voting system and counts the votes electronically.