School districts in Steuben County paid thousands of dollars this year to use the county’s new voting machines for budget votes and school board elections. It was the first time that Steuben County charged school districts to use its voting machines.
Participating school districts paid $1,600 for the first machine and $1,000 for each additional one.
County officials said charging the school districts will help to cover the cost of the new machines, which the county purchased this year from Clear Ballot Group.
The Steuben County Board of Elections spent $805,000 to buy 115 new voting systems and replace the antiquated Dominion machines.
School districts did not pay to use the old machines because they were bought using federal grant funding. However, districts were charged between $300 and $700 for supplies and staff time provided by the county election board.
“The county wants to support our municipal and school partners to the best extent that we can, while also recognizing that the demands upon a limited staff and the rising costs of voting machines, voting supplies, we have to grapple with that,” said County Manager Jack Wheeler. “We're trying to find a balance not to overburden our partners but to support them in a way that's both fair to them and fair to us.“
Six out of the 13 school districts used county voting machines.
Corning-Painted Post contracted with the county for four machines for a total of $4,600. Canisteo-Greenwood contracted to use two machines. Addison, Bath, Hornell and Campbell-Savona each contracted with the county to use one machine.
The school districts are not required to use the county voting machines for their elections.
County officials approved an increase in the cost to contract with school districts for limited use during a February legislative administration committee meeting. Wheeler said county policy delegated that authority to the committee and did not require a vote from the full county Legislature.
Voting for New York state school district budgets, ballot measures and board elections were held on May 21.