As previously reported on LNN, Ocean County has purchased new voting machines ahead of the primary elections this June. The purchase comes at a cost of approximately $9.4 million, which the county bonded for earlier this year. It was just around that time that significant errors which shifted results in certain races were detected in Monmouth County’s voting machines though no connection between those events and the interest in purchasing new machines for Ocean County was ever made publicly. 

The purchase includes 850 Election Day voting machines and 72 early voting machines from Election Systems and Software.  According to Commissioner Ginnie Haines, this purchase includes,  “all ancillary equipment, software, licensing, and maintenance costs.” Prior to the purchase, the Ocean County Board of Elections also conducted an in-person assessment of multiple  New Jersey-certified election machines at the Toms River branch of the Ocean County Library, subsequently determining that these were the best fit for us. 

Having one brand of voting machines across the county simplifies many aspects of conducting the elections including: training election volunteers, combining and compiling the data quickly, and the machines themselves are noted for greater election security. Each ballot can only be read once from these machines. Ocean County anticipates receiving a $2 million credit from Election Systems and Software for the voting machines it currently has. The voting machines are expected to be delivered in the next few weeks.