State Senate Approves Bill To Delay Law Requiring Purchase Of “Paper Trail” Voting Machines Until 2012 When Equipment With The Latest Federal Standards Are Available
January 14, 2010

The Tennessee Senate approved legislation on the opening day of the 2010 session to delay a law until 2012 that would have required cash-strapped Tennessee counties to spend $30 million to replace their voting machines.  The bill to delay the law until 2012 was easily approved by a vote of 70 to 23 in the House of Representatives last year with bi-partisan sponsors and support. 

The vote in the Senate came after both Democrat and Republican county mayors from across the state expressed strong support in delaying the law due to the costs to taxpayers, absence of availability for up-to-date federally certified machines, and the fact that the machines will have to be replaced again in the immediate future to comply with new standards from Washington.  Those standards include over 100 new requirements, with many of these focused on allowing physically impaired voters to vote independent of assistance.  

 “This legislation would have cost my counties $376,153 at a time when local governments are just trying to make ends meet,” said Senator Yager.  “While I support a process that produces a paper trail, no machines certified to the latest federal standards are available in time for the 2010 elections.  There are limited dollars available to purchase this equipment and we need to make sure we are purchasing certified machines that will be utilized for several years to come.  We especially need to use every resource available to us wisely during these difficult financial times.”

Yager said he received requests for the two-year delay from all of the election commissions, four county commissions and four county mayors in his Senate district which covers six counties.

In 2006, the state spent $24 million on machines that were expected to last ten to fifteen years, but the machines do not comply with the latest federal standards set by the Federal Election Assistance Commission.  Tennessee law requires that voting machines must be certified by the Commission before they can be utilized.  Currently, no optical scanner voting machines have met the new federal standards, although the Commission expects several machines to be certified in time for the 2012 elections.  These factors prompted Tennessee’s Secretary of State, Tre Hargett, to seek a delay in implementation of the law until machines utilizing the latest standards are available for purchase for the 2012 elections.

“The taxpayers expect us to spend this money wisely,” added Yager.  “The legislation passed by the General Assembly gives us that time to do it right.”