Elections official requests permission to destroy older voting records and media

An elections‑office staff member asked the commissioners to allow the destruction of stored election documents from 2020 through 2023 and described the categories of records that must be retained for audit or litigation purposes. The request also included wiping and recycling tabulator USB sticks after the six‑day post‑canvas retention period and authorizing IT to dispose of an older reporting laptop.

The elections official said they had researched the proper procedures and, although county commissioner sign‑off is not strictly required, they were bringing the request forward because a legislator in 2024 had asked the commission to retain the 2020 records. The staffer explained which items—such as absentee ballot secrecy envelopes, ballot logs and address confirmation cards—are retained for audit purposes and would not be destroyed, while older storage copies could be shredded or disposed: "So I am requesting that I can destroy election documents from as far back as 2020," (Elections official, speaker 7).