Franklin County agrees to seek loan for new new voting equipment

                Franklin County Commissioners have agreed to take out a bank loan of over 113 thousand dollar to purchase new voting equipment and upgrade local election software.

The state will provide 83 thousand dollars to cover the cost of the equipment through a “Help America Vote Act” grant, but will only disperse the money over 5 years.

That means the county has to cover all of the up-front expense, plus has to throw in 29 thousand dollars of local money to pay for the new software.

Commissioners said they do not like borrowing money, but the county does not have enough in its capital outlay fund to pay for the new equipment without a loan – and they can’t turn down an 83 thousand dollar grant.

Commissioner Smokey Parrish said he doesn’t understand why the state won’t just provide all of the money up front and save the county the hassle of taking out a loan – he said something doesn’t smell clean to him.

Commissioners said they hope the state doesn’t stop making the grant payments after a couple of years and leave the county holding the bag.

Supervisor of Elections Pinki Jackel said time is of the essence – she would like the new machines to be ready for the presidential primaries early next year.

She said that even though the county approved the purchase this week, it will still be early next year before the machinery has been delivered, installed and tested and local poll workers have been trained on the new system.

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