In the wake of enhanced scrutiny of voting practices in Kane County and around the country, the Kane County Board has approved a $7.3 million upgrade in voting equipment to replace aging machines that have been in use for the past 18 years.
According to the company contracted to provide the upgrade, Hart InterCivic, voting will be very similar to the current voting process except voters will use a touchscreen instead of the “wheel” and “enter” button. The machines also will produce a paper ballot that is printed and then fed into a scanner by the voter to complete the voting process. Voters will still receive an access code to enter the voting booth.
The new machines come with updated security and accessibility features to make them more user-friendly. The equipment will provide flexible inputs, audio ballots, braille guides and a way to make what is on the screen larger or another color. Software upgrades will provide better election auditing capabilities.
The goal is to have the new hardware and software in place by the next election in Kane County, which is March 19, 2024. It’s expected that the Kane County Clerk will host voting demonstrations ahead of the next election day to allow voters an opportunity to try out the new voting machines.
The newly updated Verity voting system to be implemented in Kane County is currently in use in several other Illinois counties including DuPage and Will.
(H/T Kane County Connects)
