The Shelby County Election Commission is ready for Thursday's special election and plans to make use of new electronic poll books for the first time citywide.
Election Commission Chairman Bill Giannini said the poll books -- which will cost taxpayers around $2 million -- will speed up the voting process by replacing paper ballot books. The poll books will be able to access a database containing information on all registered voters, allowing poll workers to quickly prepare voters to cast their ballots and inform them about locations where they are eligible to vote.
"It will simplify the ballot application process tremendously and will certainly reduce the number of folks we need at the call center," Giannini said.
The new poll books were rolled out in last year's presidential election at select sites, but battery and time stamp problems forced the commission to discontinue their use.
Giannini said those issues have been resolved and now the commission is ready to test out the poll books for the first time citywide.
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