05/14/19 – 4:44 P.M.

The Hancock County Board of Elections received the support from the Hancock County Commissioners to apply for new voting machines Tuesday. Board of Elections chairman David Spahr explained that getting new machines will save money.

The BOE reports that it will cost over $213,000 more to fix the machines. Replacing them with newer models will cost around $200,000. Spahr added that they have leftover funds from FEMA to help out too.

Spahr explained that they have over $117,000 in FEMA funds which will reduce the cost to around $95,000.

They will also need to have the machines in place for the November general election if they want to use it for the 2020 elections. This is due to legislation making sure that machines are ready to use and tested for next year’s election.

The board will get contracts approved by the state that the commissioners will then sign off on.