Agenda Packets - 1988/01/25 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 22, 1988 PAGE TWO 1. A ballot containing overvotes, i.e., more than one vote per position will be rejected at the time the voter inserts the ballot and the voter then has the opportunity to correct their ballot prior to it being officially tabulated. 2. The ballots are automatically tabulated at the polling place eliminating the need for a counting center and counting judges. 3. The printout provided by the ballot counter will be accepted by the Secretary of State's Office, thus avoiding the need to fill out the voluminous forms currently required for the punch card system. In evaluating the options available to us, I requested a proposal from Otto Johannes of Business Records Corporation to lease or sell to the City a ballot counter for punch cards that is the only one currently certified by the State of Minnesota and an entire OPTECH III system with trade in of our existing equipment. Attached please find a copy of the proposal which lists an $8,000 lease price for a punch card counter for the two 1988 elections as compared to a purchase price of $15,500'for the same system. An entire OPTECH III system with trade in of our existing equipment is quoted at $20,110. Even though no money was budgeted for this purchase in 1988, at the time the budget was adopted we had reason to believe that our existing equipment could and would be certified, we have no choice but to expend a large amount of funds to meet the -,tndates of the Legislature. In view of the fact that the punch card voting system appears to be on the way out in Minnesota, the cost for only a part of the total punt:, card system, i.e. the ballot counter, is 77% of the cost for a complete and technologically current system, and the previously stated advantages of a "Mark Sense" system, I find myself inclined to recommend the purchase of the OPTECH III system at a cost of $20,110. You are probably asking where the money will come from for this purchase. Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Short of eliminating an entire budget item or items, the only other source of funding is the City's Undesignated Fund Balance. As it is too early in the 1988 budget year for us to have any budget savings or unexpected non -expenditures, I must recommend that the monies for this purchase come from the City's Undesignated Fund Balance. RECOMMENDATION: Purchase of an OPTECH III-P Election System from Business Records Corporation at a cost of $20,110 per their proposal dated January 20, 198$ to be funded from the City's Undesignated Fund Balance. DFP/mjs