Agenda Packets - 1988/01/25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMO TO: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL FROM: CLERK -ADMINISTRATOR DATE: JANUARY 22, 1988 SUBJECT: CITY VOTING EQUIPMENT The 1987 Legislature adopted Legislation (Laws of 1987, Chapter 22) requiring the addition of a party preference indicator to primary election ballots and prohibiting the use of any punch card system that cannot accomodate the party preference indicator. The Secretary of State's Office in response to this Legislation promulgated rules requiring that all election systems certified for use be recertified to confirm their capability to accomodate the party preference indicator by December 1, 1987. In response to this Legislation, Staff contacted the vendor, E.L. Marketing, from whom we bought our current counting equipment in 1986 at a cost of $8,270.00 to determine if this equipment could be recertified. At that time, approximately Jure, 1987, I was assured that this would not be a problem. In September of 1987 we were advised that the firm hold?nr rights to our equipment, which was not manufactured by them, would not make the needed modifications for the equipment to receive recertification. I immediately sent a strongly worded letter to our vendor demanding action, but to no avail. Attached please find a letter from E.L. Marketing dated June 16, 1988 confirming that our equipment will not be upgraded, thus leaving us in the position of having to find some other means to comply with the party preference indicator requirement. In anticipation of the fact that our threats would be to no avail, I talked with Joan Pelzer, Ramsey County Electio;i Supervisor, about our problem and was advised that many cities including Minneapolis and St. Paul were switching over to a "Mark Sense" system called OPTECH III manufactured by Business Records Corporation. In fact, Ramsey County has purchased the equipment needed to program the OPTECH III ballot counters for the municipalities in the County using this system. "Mark Sense" systems are the most current technology for elections using a system that "senses" the voter's pencil - marked decisions and tabulates the ballot at the time the voter inserts it into the counter mounted on to; of a ballot box. At the end of the day the judges can insert Absentee Ballots into the counter and tabulate the totals by simply turning a key. Any write-ins will need to be hand counted as is the case with a punch card system. The significant features of a "Mark Sense" system are,