Swampscott set to debut new voting machines

SWAMPSCOTT – The new voting machines the town purchased last year will be used for the first time in the upcoming Feb. 5 primary election.Town Clerk Susan Duplin said she believes voters will prefer the new machines.”Voters will fill in a little oval on the ballot instead of connecting the arrows,” she said. “The machines are quiet, easy to use and foolproof. I think people will love them.”With the exception of filling in ovals as opposed to connecting arrows, Duplin said voters would probably not notice much of a difference in the way they cast their ballots.”These are not touch screens,” she said. “The machines are similar to what people in town are already used to.”Duplin, who started work last month and was previously employed as the assistant town clerk in Winthrop, was trained on the new machines before she was hired by the town. She has already scheduled training sessions for poll workers, which are scheduled to begin this week. Duplin said unlike the old voting machines, the new equipment would read every ballot with the exception of write-ins.”There will be a lot less handling of the ballots,” she said.According to Town Administrator Andrew Maylor, the new voting machines cost approximately $45,500, which includes the cost of training the staff to use them. He said the town purchased seven new voting machines – one for each of the six precincts and one backup machine.Maylor said the old voting machines were obsolete and were no longer serviced by the company that manufactured them.At a Board of Selectmen meeting in November, selectmen voted to accept the new machines. Maylor said a provision in state law requires the Board of Selectmen to take a formal vote to change voting machines or polling places.