San Luis Obispo County will use controversial voting machines for the next several elections or maybe the next 10 years.
County Clerk-Recorder Elaina Cano, who is also the County Elections Official among numerous other duties, asked Supervisors to approve a 5-year, single source contract with Dominion Voting Systems, Inc., with the first five years totaling over $848,000 and years six-10 totaling $704,000, for a total contract topping $1.55 million. The money would be “for acquisition of voting equipment, warranties, and perpetual software licenses,” reads Cano’s report.
The new contract would replace old voting machines that the County purchased in 2018, when it first contracted with Dominion.
“As the County continues to evolve in its election processes,” Cano said, “there is a need to upgrade and maintain the voting systems purchased in 2018 to ensure the timely and accurate counting of ballots.”
The new contract will purchase some new fangled equipment. “The proposed contract with Dominion includes the purchase of one HiPro high speed scanner/vote tabulator [HiPro] and six upgraded new Mobile Ballot Printers [MBPs], among other necessary equipment and services.”
She said the new HiPro scanners are three times as fast as the County’s current machines. “This significant increase in speed,” Cano said, “will enable the Clerk-Recorder’s office to process ballots much more efficiently, particularly in the event of a two-card ballot, which would double the number of cards typically counted per voter.”
The new scanner only needs one person to operate it, and Cano said that would free up workers for other tasks. “This efficiency is expected to enhance the operational capability of the Clerk-Recorder’s office and ensure that election results can be delivered to the public more quickly.”
The new printers will allow the County to print ballots on larger sized paper, for times when there are too many issues on a ballot. This saves them from having to issue multiple-card ballots. “The advanced printing capabilities of the upgraded MBPs will ensure that even with more extensive ballots, the election administration process will remain streamlined and efficient,” Cano said.
Dominion will even haul away the County’s old equipment. “Dominion will prepare and pick up 33 MBP kits and three G2140 scanners for return,” Cano said, “since they are no longer in use and will be replaced with the HiPro and six new MBPs. (These items were originally acquired for administration of elections during the COVID pandemic.).”
The start-up costs for the contract and the new equipment is over $287,000. This includes a $36,500 credit the company will give the County for its old voting equipment. Money for the new machines is coming from the State Voting System Replacement Contract and a Federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant.
Dominion’s voting machines and their alleged vulnerability to hacking, has been the subject of controversy for two Presidential Election cycles. In 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by now Vice-President Kamala Harris, who was Sen. Harris of California back then, accused the company’s machines of being too easily hacked into by outside actors. The complaints back then came from the Democrats and the campaign of Hillary Clinton, who lost the Presidency in 2016.
In the 2020 Election, Dominion’s machines’ vulnerability were part of the arguments made by the campaign of President Donald Trump, who lost that election, accusing Georgia and several other states elections of being rigged against him.
Several news outlets picked up on the story and Dominion sued them for what essentially amounts to libel of a product.
Fox News settled out of court with Dominion for some $787 million and the machines continue to be used across the nation.
