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Shelby County Commission approves $6M voting system

Election officials said they desperately need the equipment because the current voting machines are 25 years old and can't be fixed.

SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Shelby County Commission has approved a plan to give nearly $6 million to the Shelby County Election Commission. 

It's the resolution to a year-long battle over the purchase of new voting machines to be used in the November election and it took nearly five hours to reach an agreement.

Election officials said they desperately need the equipment because the current voting machines are 25 years old and can't be fixed.

Some commissioners, citing technical issues in past elections, were concerned about security and wanted to offer a paper ballot system. The compromise was a hybrid machine system that offered voters both options.

That created a lot of confusion and back and forth between officials and what exactly that plan included. They later went back to the original resolution, calling for the machines to be implemented for the November election, not the countywide election in August.

In fact, there was a lot of confusion and visible frustration among the commissioners throughout the discussion. One of them even called the proceedings "a disgrace". 

Election commissioners were also frustrated with Shelby County commissioners, saying the county can't afford to wait any longer because the current machines are in such bad shape.

"We had 2021 for that dire situation to be worked out," Election Commissioner Bennie Smith said. "If we had a whole year where there were no elections and why would we try to ... there's going to be more than 60 seats on the ballot. It would be unconscionable to think that with the average voter to be 60 years old and more, to stick a brand-new machine in front of them, rip their precincts up, change all of their voting information and think you're going to have a clean election. That gives me heartburn."

The election commission will only get the $6 million if it drops its lawsuit against the county. One commissioner argued Monday it's insane for the county to be suing itself.

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