Upgrade now, and pay less because of a grant, or upgrade later and pay at the township’s expense.
That was the choice Orion Township trustees were faced with at their Jan. 3 board meeting, regarding the township’s voting equipment.
They opted to upgrade now, so they can benefit from federal grant money, adopting the proof of authority for entering into grant agreement for voting system resolution, authorizing clerk Jill Bastian to forward it to the Oakland County clerk.
The county clerk will then submit the grant application on behalf of the township.
Bastian explained that with the passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), the township would be receiving federal grant money from the State of Michigan to cover the cost of a complete upgrade of the township’s voting equipment and software in 2005-06.
Last January, all the clerks in Oakland County were invited to meet with the county clerk, and voted to purchase the new equipment through Election Systems &Software (ES&S), the township’s current vendor, Bastian said.
Bastian said the goal was a standardization of voting equipment in Oakland County, and providing handicap accessibility, as required by Michigan’s HAVA plan.
‘Orion wasn’t not in compliance with HAVA, ever,? Bastian said. ‘The federal grant monies are being made available to all the states.?
The equipment selected by a majority vote of the clerks in Oakland County is a precinct-based optical scan system, Bastian said. Additional tabulators and memory cards could be purchased, at the township’s expense.
‘We have until next year to upgrade equipment,? added Bastian. ‘We need to make a request to the county clerk this year, to get the equipment for next year.?
Trustee Michael Gingell wanted to know how much money the township would get from the grant.
‘Will we be expected to have a matching amount?? he asked.
‘The grant will pay for the equipment…the expense to the township will come from upgrading one PC, if it’s needed to use the software,? Bastian said.
‘By going with the majority, the county will pay for such things as ballots,? she said.
‘So the equipment we have now, we are upgrading to (extend) the life of the equipment,? said trustee Matthew Gibb. ‘It seems like eventually we’d have to upgrade the equipment anyway…at our cost.?