Sag Harbor residents were the first on the East End to try out new, all-digital voting machines unveiled by the Suffolk County Board of Elections last week in anticipation of the June 23 primaries.
On Friday, employees of the board of elections visited the John Jermain Memorial Library with the Elections Systems and Software machines — two of the fleet of new machines purchased for $35 million earmarked by the Suffolk County Legislature last year. Elections Systems and Software, a Nebraska-based company, supplies about 40 percent of counties nationwide with the machines. In 2024 the company faced scrutiny for ballot printing errors in some counties that caused long delays and left some residents unable to cast votes.
But Suffolk County says the machines are reliable. In fact, Joyce McGrath-MacFarlane of Southampton, an election worker at the live demo last week said she would invite anyone who distrusts the process to become an election worker. Ms. McGrath-MacFarlane, who has been working at polling places in Sag Harbor for 11 years, said staff is well trained to handle issues that arise during voting days. She added that all election data collected during voting is handed to police departments at the end of every day.
The new machines look sleek and small, but open up to a large screen display and hanging curtains to protect voter privacy. The last time Suffolk County updated voting machines was 10 years ago, when they eliminated the curtains.
Also eliminated is the need to fill in ballots by hand. The machines have technology to change font size, screen background color, and language — English and Spanish in Suffolk County. They also allow voters to select only as many candidates as is permitted — eliminating errors that would invalidate a ballot.
Paper ballots are still cast — but they are printed from options chosen on the digital screen — and then cast directly into a cartridge in the machine, rather than voters walking their ballots to a casting machine. Kandice Allgauer, a board of elections employee, said that workers at polling places remove the cartridges — which can hold around 350 ballots — when they are full.
The Elections Systems and Software machines will continue their travels across Suffolk County. On Tuesday, they will be at the Montauk Library, on March 18 at the Amagansett Library, and on April 17 at the East Hampton Library.
