The hot elections topic in Ohio can be summed up in two words: electronic pollbooks. With the recent state-provided funding for the purpose of upgrading and automating voter check-in with electronic pollbook solutions, many counties are now evaluating their options. The ExpressPoll from Election Systems & Software provides a proven solution— meeting county’s voter validation needs.
With the ExpressPoll system already implemented in 27 counties (and counting) ES&S isn’t a newcomer to the Ohio elections sphere. Richland County for example, has used the ExpressPoll electronic pollbook family of products for eight years. When asked, their Director of Elections, Paulette Hankins had the following to say about the ExpressPoll:
“We have used the Express Poll Book system in Richland County for the past eight years with great success. It was a very easy process to train our Poll Workers, and we were especially pleased with the elimination of any poll worker error in determining which ballot style to issue to the voters. The Express Poll system creates the correct ballot style according to the voters’ registration records.”
Using experience to better benefit Ohio
For 30 years, ES&S has been providing voting solutions for the State of Ohio. Our existing, experienced service and support structure makes us a valuable asset for Ohio counties when implementing new pollbook technology. The eight Ohio residents we employ are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of jurisdictions and their constituents, being a part of the voting public themselves. These individuals also have the full support of our 400 employee strong company, ensuring their attention can be focused on local customers and their needs.
Additionally, our experience in this area has helped us advance the ExpressPoll in areas the competition hasn’t yet touched. With integral data storage redundancy, counties always have back-ups of voter data. The internal storage works in conjunction with a microSD card ensuring critically important Voter History data will be available once the polls close.
The ExpressPoll also has the ability to program AccuVote-TSX Voter Access Cards, iVotronic PEB’s and ExpressVote Activation Cards. This ability is crucial for many counties like Lorain. Paul Adams, Director of the Lorain County Board of Elections has remarked,
“The ability for the ES&S ExpressPolls to ensure accuracy by encoding Voter Access cards for the AccuVote-TSX voting units made them stand out among many of their other competitors.”
Integral battery back-up in each thermal printer gives counties peace of mind, lasting up to 10 hours in the case of a power outage. The need for multiple printings of the voter posting list can be nerve racking during inclement weather. The ExpressPoll eliminates this worry. These features are just a few of the many capabilities ES&S provides with the ExpressPoll. Poll workers and election staff, like the ones in Richland County; agree that the ExpressPoll is an advanced solution to voter check-in—
“Our staff was impressed with the reduction of man hours to upload the voter history after the Election. Instead of taking up to 3 weeks to enter the voter history manually or by use of a wand, using the Express Poll upload system reduced that time to approximately 2 hours!”
ES&S is committed to providing streamlined voter check-in solutions to Ohio. Many of these counties, such as Lorain, have long desired to implement the ExpressPoll as the cost savings, ease of use and improved accuracy provided by the system are true technology winners. Their May 2015 first use provided positive remarks again from Paul, stating, “Our poll workers and voters have found the ES&S ExpressPolls very efficient and easy to use.”
Please contact Mark Radke or Craig Seibert for more information about the ExpressPoll tablet.