Clerk seeks $5,000 contribution toward countywide election machines; committee approves agreement

City clerk Jessica Chiffell told the committee the city initially budgeted roughly $50,000 in the CIP to replace aging DS200 tabulators but learned countywide server and compatibility rules mean all municipalities must replace equipment at the same time.

Chiffell said Wood County informed municipalities that an all-or-nothing approach was necessary because older machines cannot temporarily communicate with the new server, and that the county asked each municipality to pay a minimum of $1,000 per machine. "So the new, um, ask I have of you is instead of $50,000, I am looking for $5,000 for the Wood County machines," Chiffell said, noting the city may still need to replace a county neighbor’s machine at a different schedule.

Committee members moved, seconded and approved the clerk’s request to sign the agreement with Wood County and to provide the $5,000 contribution toward coordinated replacement of election equipment.