?Voting anywhere coming this fall …
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Tarrant County looks to offer anywhere voting in the November elections this fall. The County has agreed to purchase new electronic voting machines at a cost of 11 million dollars that would allow that option on the actual voting day. {{more: continue ?}}By buying 3,000 machines, the County would have enough to place them in each of the polling centers by election day in November. If that happens any Tarrant County registered voters would be able cast a ballot at any county voting site regardless of where their home precinct is located.Voters have long had the chance to vote early at any site in the county, but if they waited until election day, they could only vote at their home voting site. The change would allow an individual that lives in this area of Kennedale/Arlington but works in the Alliance area, would be able to vote on his/her lunch break at a nearby voting site.The machines have been approved for use by the Texas Secretary of State?s office and include touch screens, scanners and paper trail protection.What is the paper trail protection?
They machines allow the voter to review a ballot on screen, make their decision by touching the screen, receive a printed ballot that shows their decisions and then officially vote by scanning their ballot and dropping their completed ballot into the voting box.?This allows the machine to immediately record the vote while a physical record of your vote is filed for verification.A year out from the presidential elections in 2020, the county will see the machines in action with the upcoming November 5 constitutional amendment election and again in the May local elections. This would allow time for an evaluation and corrective action.The County still has to file an application for their use in November ? deadline August 22.??
