San Diego County Eyeing $20 Million Voter System Upgrade

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Credit: Matt Hoffman/KPBS

Above: Voters turn in ballots at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters in Kearny Mesa, Nov. 5, 2018.

The county of San Diego said its current system for administering elections is not efficient. The county board of supervisors will vote Tuesday to move $20 million for a new voting system. The county anticipates the money will be reimbursed from state and federal funds.

The county said it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain old ballot scanners — and fewer computers are available with the current Windows XP operating system. Windows XP was debuted in 2001 and Microsoft no longer offers support for the system.

If the upgrade is approved, the San Diego County Registrar of Voters would enter into a competitive bidding process to find a state-approved vendor.

The system upgrade would include things like computers, scanners, touchscreen units and software, with the goal of making voting more efficient. The county hopes to have a new voting system in place for the 2020 Presidential Primary Election.

The county plans to still use traditional paper ballots if the upgrade is approved.

Aired 12/11/18 on KPBS News

If approved by the board of supervisors, the upgrade would bring new computers, scanners, touch-screen voting machines and software to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters.

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Matt Hoffman
General Assignment Reporter

opening quote marks closing quote marks I am a general assignment reporter for KPBS. In addition to covering the latest news and issues that are relevant to the San Diego community, I like to dig deeper to find the voices and perspectives that other media often miss.