The Tompkins County Board of Elections held an open meeting on Monday January 28 at 2:00 p.m. to choose a ballot marking device (BMD) to use in this fall's elections.

Commissioners Elizabeth W. Cree and Stephen M. DeWitt presented a brief summary of recent court decisions regarding New York State's implementation of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Following a question and comment period, the Commissioners voted unanimously for the Sequoia ImageCast as their first choice, followed by the Premier AutoMark and the ES&S AutoMark.

The Commissioners cited the Sequoia's open source software, ease of transition to a permanent HAVA compliant optical scan voting system and company reputation as influencing their decision.

The Commissioners' preferences will be forwarded to the New York State Board of Elections. The State Board has final say on which system each county actually receives.

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