Ada County to use upgraded voting system for 2016 election

BOISE – A county in southwestern Idaho has updated its voting equipment in anticipation of the 2016 presidential election.

The Idaho Statesman reports that voters in Boise and other Ada County locations will still receive a paper ballot and use a pen or pencil to select a candidate. The change affects how and where the county counts the ballots.

The new system will have ballot counting machines at each precinct. Ballots will be counted immediately rather than being sent to the central election office after polls close.

Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane says the county’s outdated Zip disks, Zip drives, dot-matrix printers and temperamental counting machines were at high risk of failing on election night.

Ada County will debut its voting system at the March 8 Republican presidential primary.