Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes introduced new voting machines, purchased in preparation for the upcoming 2020 elections, at a town hall meeting on Tuesday.
Some of the new voting machines will be available at downtown Phoenix’s single voting station, located at 510 S. Third Ave., for any voters who would prefer to use them instead of paper ballots, according to Fontes. They are expected to be ready for the special elections this November.
The County Recorder’s office displayed the machines and taught attendees how to use them at the Ability360 Center for Independent Living.
Officials released the machines to replace the Edge voting stations that were purchased in 1996. At the time of purchase, the Edge machines were already 18 years old.
“It is a stopgap between the current system that is outdated and what will probably be a longer-term purchase. This series of equipment will be around for several cycles,” Fontes said.
The midterm election in 2018 saw a 42 percent increase in voter turnout over the previous midterm election.
Fontes said he hopes the new machines will continue to increase turnout from all communities for many future elections.
The machines were built to be more accessible to all communities, with multiple language options as well as options that would allow people with any sort of disability to use them.
Nathanael Pretlow, a town hall attendee, worked as a poll inspector in Gilbert and Tempe for the past 10 years and was impressed by the new machines.
“I’m glad I came because I got to see the machines that are replacing the Edge machines. Those things are so archaic,” Pretlow said.
He said that the old machines were difficult to use for both the voters and the poll volunteers, with many complex and old-fashioned steps necessary to correctly set them up.
The meeting was hosted by members of the Roundtable Project, a group created to reach previously underserved communities in order to educate them on voting and creating a platform to hear their concerns.
Six members of the group were in attendance and spoke on their communities’ concerns with upcoming elections and steps the Roundtable Project were taking to address those concerns. They said that voter education was a large issue in all aspects of the voting process.
The members representing the disability, college student and Hispanic-American communities said the machines would improve accessibility for those with disabilities, while some work that could be done to benefit minority communities include removing language barriers to voting and hosting recreational events with other activities to encourage people to vote.
In addition to accessibility and getting out the vote, Patty Ferguson-Bohnee, the Native American community representative, and Genevieve Siri, the Asian American community representative, both said that voter education was the biggest concern in their communities.
“Learning how to vote is like learning a new language again,” Siri said.
Fontes said he created the Roundtable Project in order to begin communicating with and rebuilding trust between the government and underserved communities. He said rebuilding that trust was important to better address their communities’ concerns so that trust is not lost.
“Elections are the golden thread that runs through the fabric of our society. If you pull that golden thread out, the entire fabric will fall apart,” he said.
Contact the reporter at rknappen@asu.edu.
