Bucks County Considering $367K For 'High Speed' Ballot Processing

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Bucks County is considering purchasing several machines to help with what's expected to be a historic 2020 election, with a record number of mail-in ballots anticipated.

The Board of Commissioners is slated to vote during their meeting Wednesday on a resolution which would allow for the purchase of around $367,000 in new equipment for the Board of Elections.

The purchases include two on-demand ballot printers, as well four rapid extraction desks for mail opening and six high speed ballot scanners.

The printers and scanners would come from the Clear Ballot Group in Boston, and the desks from the Opex Corporation in Moorestown, New Jersey.

Officials in Bucks County and around Pennsylvania and the nation are preparing for a massive influx of mail-in ballots in November. In 2016, Bucks County received 21,509 applications for absentee ballots. This year, officials are preparing for as many as 300,000 mail-ins due to the pandemic, with health leaders urging residents to vote by mail if at all possible.

>>Bucks Co. Officials Prepare For Massive Influx Of Mail-In Ballots

Bucks County, like Montgomery and many of the highly populated counties in Pennsylvania, experienced significant delays in vote tabulation during the June primary. Officials are hoping they can avoid that in the fall, with the help of this new equipment.

Tom Freitag, the county's Board of Elections director, said at this point, it's difficult to estimate how long the counting process in November could take, since the actual volume of ballots is unknown.

The Bucks County Board of Commissioners public meeting Wednesday will also include a vote on a resolution to extend of the Declaration of Disaster Emergency in the county, originally declared on March 13 due to the pandemic, through Sept. 3.

The meeting will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Bucks County Administration Building in Doylestown. The meeting is open in person to the public, but attendance is limited to 25 individuals due to the pandemic, and all seats have already been reserved. To submit a comment on agenda items, email PublicComment@buckscounty.org between 10 a.m. and 10:05 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The meeting will be livestreamed online.

You can view the full agenda here.