BEXAR COUNTY, Texas -- After 17 years, Bexar County has new voting machines, and longtime Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen says they're top of the line.
- Paper ballot will be processed
- Provides legitimate paper trail
- New zoom and low light features
"It's the difference between a flip phone and an iPhone," said Callanen.
They have plenty of new features that make the process of casting a vote easier and more convenient, but there's also the security features that come with it. Voters will still be placing their votes on a touch screen, but now there's a paper ballot that needs to be processed as well. That double check creates a better system of checks and balances that Callanen hopes will quell the yearly conspiracy theories.
"Let's just say there's redundancy in every piece of equipment that we use," she said. "If there's any question. Any question. If it's a recount or an audit, we are only allowed to count the paper ballots, so we have our paper trail. We're really excited about that."
The new machines have also allowed Bexar County to create voter centers, which give registered voters the opportunity to vote at any polling place, rather than be restricted to an area based on the location of their residence.
"It's important to us that we are a vote center county. It's important for our voters, but we had to wait for the equipment," said Callanen.
The total cost to the county is over $12 million, which provided the county with 1,200 new touch screens and more than 300 tabulators at 36 sites. Each voting machine comes with new features as well, including zoom, toggling between languages and a dark screen option.
"We're excited to do it now, for November. So, this is going to be our test run, let's be realistic," said Callanen.
Bexar County is on the first larger counties in Texas to implement the new voting technology.
Early voting starts on October 21, and Bexar County projects at least 50,000 people will cast ballots. There are currently over 1.1 million registers voters in the county.