Shawnee County "Poll Pads" Make Debut in Kansas Primary
[Image courtesy of Topeka Capital Journal]
Election officials across the country have been looking for ways to expedite the voting experience for voters – and yesterday, Shawnee County, KS (Topeka) rolled out a new technology for the statewide primary. The Topeka Capital-Journal has more:
Shawnee County election worker Jean Gunther took a voter’s Kansas driver’s license Tuesday and electronically scanned the barcode with an Apple iPad camera.
“This was something to learn,” Gunther said, “but it’s super simple.”
Gunther was working at First United Methodist Church, 600 S.W. Topeka Blvd.
Within seconds, the voter’s record popped up. A quick signature, and the voter was ready to put pen to paper — or finger to touch screen.
This is the first election in which Shawnee County has used Apple iPads, also known as “Poll Pads.”
In most locations, the rollout went well – aided in part by the relatively low turnout:
Voter Treva Potter said the process was quick.
“It went very well,” Potter said.
Randy Schmidt, supervising judge for the First United Methodist polling location, said there “were no problems with the iPad itself.”
“It’s just becoming familiar with the technology,” he said.
From 7 to 10:30 a.m., more than 40 voters had visited the First United Methodist location.
Elsewhere, though, there were the kinds of problems that often emerge with any new technology:
The new iPads didn’t work out so well at other locations. Just after 6:30 p.m., multiple people at the Brookwood Covenant Church, 3601 S.W. 33rd St., reported waiting in line for more than 10 minutes, just to check in to vote.
“I stood in line for 45 minutes and only 8 people in front of me,” voter Erik Crouch said on Twitter. “I may have just been behind several who had Voter ID exceptions, I am totally not disparaging the staff doing their best.”
Crouch said he thought the problem correlated to how the iPads scanned in identifications, potentially because of the state’s new voter ID law that requires a photo ID when voting in person.
Bryan Caskey, assistant state election director, said on Twitter it might be a training issue, and he would contact Shawnee County.
Once poll workers got comfortable, though, the benefits to voters became clearer:
Election volunteers at Brookwood said the iPad system was working great. Joe Ham, an election worker at Meadows Elementary School, 201 S.W. Clay, agreed.
“It is much better,” Ham said. “We don’t have to search.”
Before the Poll Pads, election workers had to search for voter names in a paper poll book.
The iPads also notify poll workers whether a voter is in the incorrect place and tells the election worker the proper polling place for the voter, Ham said.
Election workers at the Topeka Civic Theatre and Academy had some issues with the iPad at first. The lighting was wrong and the barcode on IDs couldn’t be scanned. Workers adjusted the placement of the iPad.
“Once we got the hang of it, we’ve been sailing right along,” said Suzanna Challacombe, supervising judge.
The total investment for the county – including federal money via the state – is just under $130,000:
In October 2013, Commissioners Shelly Buhler, Bob Archer and Kevin Cook voted 3-0 to approve election commissioner Andrew Howell’s request that the county accept a $28,740 Help America Vote Act grant administered by the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office to purchase 120 Poll Pads.
The vote also authorized Howell to buy the Poll Pad software, which Howell estimated would cost the county $99,370.
Obviously, not every jurisdiction is going to use this specific technology or software to improve the check in process – but this kind of technological experimentation (and the need to train experienced pollworkers on using it) is going to be increasingly common. It’ll be interesting to see if yesterday’s low-turnout primary is sufficient preparation for a larger turnout in November.
Stay tuned …