Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry Plans Public Demonstration Of New State-Of-The-Art Election Equipment

Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry invites the public to a demonstration of new state-of-the-art election equipment that will be used to cast and count ballots in next year’s Primary and Presidential Elections.

County Clerk Staley Ferry and her team will conduct demonstrations of the new ballot counters, ADA-compliant ballot-marking devices, and pollbooks between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15 at the Joliet Renaissance Center at 214 N. Ottawa St., in downtown Joliet.

The County Clerk secured funding earlier this year to purchase the new equipment that will thoroughly modernize Will County’s voting systems. The new election equipment and related software replace outdated ballot counters and ADA devices, some of which were decades old and functioning on ancient software platforms.

After a review process that spanned nearly two years, the County Clerk this year selected Lisle-based Governmental Business Systems (GBS), a distributor of Hart InterCivic election equipment, to supply and support new ballot counters and ballot-marking devices to assist voters with disabilities. Hart InterCivic is based in Austin, Texas and provides tabulation equipment and software to election authorities across the United States. She is pleased to forge a relationship with GBS to provide local support for the new line of equipment.

The Hart InterCivic ballot counters and ballot-marking devices function with paper ballots that document and record a voter’s intent for secure, verifiable elections. Ballot counters are isolated and operate independently with no wireless communication capabilities to prevent potential exploitation by hackers. Software associated with the new equipment functions on the most-recent supported platforms.

The County Clerk also chose Florida-based Tenex Software Solutions to provide modern pollbooks that will streamline the process for voters and for Election Judges who work in busy Polling Places and Early Voting locations. Tenex, which also is providing the Will County Clerk’s Office with a new voter registration system, provides a line of exciting election software solutions that are well-designed, robust, and intuitive.

“I am thrilled to demonstrate the entire suite of new election equipment that will provide Will County citizens with the modern voting system they deserve,” County Clerk Staley Ferry said. “The companies we have partnered with and the new equipment and software we have purchased will completely upgrade Will County’s elections.”