County Council to Meet in Emergency Session for Vote on Election Devices

The St. Charles County Council will meet in emergency session at 8:30 a.m. Thursday to vote on a a $360,000 bid on election services, and a $30,250 bid to rent 121 personal digital assistants for the Election Authority.

County Elections Director Rich Chrismer said the $360,000 bid covers election services for the year. About two-thirds of it goes toward printing ballots, he said.

Chrismer said the bids were delayed in getting out.

“The bids languished on an employee’s desk, so we had to ask for an emergency session to get them approved,” Chrismer said. “We just found out about it last week, and we have an election coming up in 23 or 24 days.”

The council will vote on awarding the bid to Henry Adkins & Sons Inc. for $360,000 to provide election services, including printing ballots. The company was the only bidder.

Election Assistants also was the only bidder for the PDAs, which would be rented at an average cost of $250 per device, if the bid is approved.

Election administrators use the devices at each polling place to check to ensure voters are at the correct polling place. Chrismer said an average of 20,000 St. Charles County residents move within the county every 10 years, and most of them do not notify the Elections Authority of their move.  As a result, many voters show up at the wrong polling place.

“You would not believe how upset voters get when they stand in line for an hour, 40 minutes or even 20 minutes and find out they can’t vote because they’re at the wrong polling place,” Chrismer said.

He said renting the PDAs instead of buying them saves money on storing the devices, keeping them updated, and ensures the county has the latest technology.

Editor's Note: This article originally included only the bid on the PDA devices.