Contact: Carolyn Marinan, Communications, 612-348-5969 Hennepin County Elections, 612-348-5151
Hennepin County elections officials will check-in voters using a
secure e-poll book system in all Hennepin County cities except Minneapolis. The
city of Minneapolis will change to an electronic check-in process in 2017.
Hennepin County is one of two counties in the state to use this technology.
E-poll books are iPads that have voter rolls electronically loaded on them. They
replace the paper check-in process. All election judges are trained to use the
new system and successfully used them during the primary election on August 9.
Voters
in 43 Hennepin County cities will experience the following differences:
- Voters can choose any line to check-in. They no
longer need to find a specific line designated by their last name.
- Election judges will check-in registered voters
via iPad, rather than paper binders.
- Election judges will register new voters via
iPad, rather than paper forms.
- Voters will sign their name on a small slip of
paper, rather than in the binder
E-poll books have been pilot tested in multiple
past elections in Hennepin County, including in Minnetonka, and other Minnesota
counties including Ramsey, Dakota, St. Louis, Crow Wing, and Blue Earth
counties.
Benefits
to voters:
- Increased voter privacy
- More accurate check-in process
- Efficient check-in and registration
Benefits
to elections officials:
- More accurate registration and check-in –
e-poll book system prevents voters accidentally signing in on wrong line,
election day registration information is captured electronically
- Helps election judges by walking through each
step of the check-in or registration process
- Decreased administrative work after election is
complete to transfer
- More efficient check-in – no need to flip through
pages of voter rosters
Paper
records will be available at all polling places as back-up. Election judges
will only use the paper back-ups in the case of technical difficulties.
The
voter registration information in the e-poll books is never connected to the
ballot counting machines or results reporting process. The two systems function
independently and never transfer information among each other.
On
average, each polling place has four e-poll books, but that varies by the size
of the precinct.
Across the country, jurisdictions in
32 states currently use e-poll books. Hennepin County’s specific e-poll
book product, the KNOWiNK Poll Pad, has been used in 12 states and over 60
counties across the country.
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