Public voting machine demonstrations scheduled for Friday at Osage Centre

Four companies will demonstrate their voting systems to the Cape Girardeau County clerk and election staff Friday, May 10 — and the public is invited to attend.

The presentations are scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Osage Centre, 1625 N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau.

Tentatively, Adkins Election Services of Clinton will start the event by demonstrating the Unisyn OpenElect Voting System 2.2 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Elkins-Swyers Co. of Springfield will then demonstrate the Dominion D-Suite 5.17 Voting System from 9:40 to 10:40 a.m.

Following them, Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Nebraska, will showcase the EVS 6.3.0.0 Voting System from 10:50 to 11:50 a.m.

To conclude the presentations, Hart InterCivic of Austin, Texas, will show the Verify Voting 2.7 Voting System from noon to 1 p.m.

These four companies submitted proposals for new election tabulation and paper ballot equipment following the county’s formal request for proposals in October.

Cape Girardeau County Clerk Kara Clark Summers, who acts as the county’s election authority, said the new system would replace the county’s existing 12-year-old Unisyn election equipment.

“We’ve had minimal issues with that equipment; it’s been really phenomenal. We’ve had a good experience with that equipment,” Summers said. “It’s just, as with anything — your computer, your phone or anything else electronic — after time, you need to upgrade.”

The newer equipment will have higher security functions built in and will be compliant with federal requirements set by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002 and State of Missouri laws.

The HAVA requires voting systems that permit the voter to verify their selections before their ballot is counted and notify the voter if they have accidentally voted for more than the maximum number of candidates allowed in any given race.

During their demonstrations, company representatives will demonstrate the security features and how each system works to Summers, her election staff and any members of the public who want to visit.

“I said, give us all of your options. Tell us what you feel is best for a county of our size,” Summers said. “… I would like to see everything there is to offer so that we can make the best decision for our county as a whole.”

She said her main goal when selecting one of the systems to be the county’s equipment for the next 12 to 15 years is determining which ones are the most secure.

Each precinct in the county counts their ballots through a tabulator and by hand during each election.

“Nothing is done electronically,” she said. “It would all be hand-carried back here by the two supervisory judges. The Democrat and the Republican drive together to the counting center here in Jackson, and that’s where we take their results and we put it in a system that is not connected to the internet, and actually put that into a PDF and put it online.”

Summers said she had been preparing for the switch to a new system for some time and that the equipment likely will cost somewhere between $300,000 to $500,000, which the county had already budgeted for.

“It’s nice to see that we have more choices that we can look at and make sure we get the right equipment and the most secure equipment,” she said.

Summers encouraged people interested in the voting process to sign up to become election workers and help out during the upcoming August primary and November general elections.