FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
August 25, 2009

Test of election equipment deemed successful
Results from all 53 towns were transmitted to county

FREEHOLD – A test of the county’s election equipment this morning was a success.

The trial run involved 53 municipal clerks reading and submitting voting data from all 912 cartridges used in the primary election. In that election, connectivity to the county’s server contributed to a delay in reporting results.

“Today’s test proved that the cartridges across all 53 Monmouth County municipalities can be read simultaneously in a little more than one hour,” County Clerk M. Claire French said. “I am pleased to announce that the test of our election equipment was a success.”

On election night, when the election board workers close the polls, they print out the paper receipts from each voting machine, close and remove the data cartridges with the results in them, close the building and then travel to town hall to turn in the cartridges.

Monmouth County has no control over how long that process takes. “But once the cartridges are in the hands of the municipal clerks, this test proved that the technology used is as efficient as possible,” French said.

“We are grateful for the cooperation of all the municipal clerks in setting aside the time of 10 a.m. today to test the system,” she added.

“We look forward to the day when the technology will improve to where results can be read instantly from the voting machine and go directly to the county without requiring election workers to travel to their municipal buildings to download the data from the cartridges,” French said.

Laptops and data cartridge readers used for elections by municipal clerks recently received scheduled maintenance and upgrades. Monmouth County purchased 950 Sequoia vote machines several years ago for $8 million –  relying mostly on federal funds – and also spent $80,000 for the 60 laptops solely for municipal use on election nights.

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