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Voters will try new equipment at check-in for early voting primary for 95th House District starting Friday

When early voting starts Friday in the primary election for the District 95th district seat in the Tennessee House of Representatives, voters will have the chance to try out some new equipment that the Shelby County Election Commission (SCEC)is considering purchasing in the future.
The test run is for “Poll Pads,” stock i-Pads configured with special technology, and are being provided by St. Louis-based “KnowInk.”
Members of the media are invited to the Operations Center at 980 Nixon Dr. Wednesday morning between 10 and 11:30 to preview the equipment. This is not open to the public, though if plans move forward for purchase, a public demonstration will be held in the future.
Voters will notice the equipment when they are checking in before going to a machine, and not just because it looks different, but because it speeds up the check-in process. The time-consuming part of voting usually isn’t making selections.
“Most voters have an idea who they want to vote for before they get to the machines,” said Linda Phillips, administrator of elections for the Shelby County Election Commission. Checking in before being given a card and directed to a machine is where the wait time usually comes into play.
With the current equipment, it takes poll workers between 3-1/2 to 4 minutes to check each voter in, which involves verifying identity and getting them to sign the Application for Ballot.
While the poll pads have the capability of allowing voters to sign electronically, paper affidavits will be printed for the voters to sign. The print process requires much less paper and is also performed much more expediently.
The poll pads’ technology scans in the voters’ Tennessee ID, or handgun carry permit, which brings up the information on a screen, making the identity verification process quick and easy.
The check-in time with using a poll pad is about 90 seconds per voter, which will trim down wait times substantially during big elections.

The equipment will also be used on the Primary Election Day.

Courtesy Suzanne Thompson Cozza

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