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<br />Request for Action <br /> <br /> <br />To Item Number <br /> <br />Mayor and City Council 8.3 <br />Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by <br /> <br />WorksessionOctober 6, 2015Tina Allard, City Clerk <br />Item Description Reviewed by <br />City Feedback for Purchasing Election Equipment Cal Portner, City Administrator <br />Reviewed by <br /> <br /> <br />Action Requested <br /> <br />Council feedback regarding their support for the purchase of election equipment. <br /> <br />Background/Discussion <br /> <br />Residents and candidates have voiced frustration with timely posting of election results. In 2014, <br />Sherburne County was among the last three counties to post to the Office of the Secretary of State’s <br />website. <br /> <br />Our current equipment was purchased in the late 1990’s and is showing its wear with an increasing <br />number of equipment failures. We have worked with the county to improve the process; however, the <br />transmission of results from polling locations is a barrier. <br /> <br />The county would like all cities to purchase new precinct ballot scanners and a central ballot scanner. <br />Ballot scanners are located at each precinct to count the paper ballots and the central ballot scanner is <br />located at the county for the absentee voting process. They offered to pay half the cost of the ballot <br />scanners and request each city pay a portion of the central ballot counter based on the number of <br />registered voters in each precinct. <br /> <br />Staff is requesting two extra ballot scanners to act as backups in case of equipment failure. <br /> <br />Financial Impact <br /> <br />The cost estimate for the city share of purchasing election equipment is estimated at $45,000. The county <br />is offering two payment options: <br /> <br />1.Full payment in 2016, which would be added to the 2016 CIP. <br /> <br />2.Pay a rental cost to the county over a certain period of time. Details to be worked out later. <br /> <br />Attachments <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />September 18, 2015, Email and Letter from Sherburne County Auditor <br /> <br /> <br />November 22, 2014, Star News Article <br /> <br /> <br />