San Bernardino County
Article Launched: 05/23/2006 12:00:00 AM PDT
Polls on the move?
County has chance for new equipment
Jeff Horwitz, Staff Writer
If voters can't go to the polls, says county Registrar of Voters Kari Verjil, the polls should go to them.
To that end, the mobile-voting vehicle is part of an $8 million package of election equipment up for a vote by the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors at today's meeting.
The board is expected to approve a Help America Vote Act funding agreement with the state, providing the county's Registrar of Voters with funds for upgraded elections equipment, increased voter education and the voting vehicle equipped with touch-screen voting machines.
The county has had plenty of time to think about how to spend the money: It made its request for state funding in 2002.
Verjil said that, assuming the board approves her request, the voting vehicle will likely be rolling through the county before the 2008 state primary.
"We are leaning toward something of a motor-home-type vehicle" similar to the ROVER vehicle that Riverside County operates, Verjil said. The portable-polling places would be dispatched to senior centers, civic events and remote areas of the county during the three weeks of early voting leading up to election day.
And if San Bernardino is struck by flood, fire or earthquake near the close of an election season, Verjil said, "we would be able to deploy the votemobile as an emergency voting place."
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http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3853676