Come Jan. 23, each of Keene's five polling locations will be staffed with workers who will use new electronic poll pads to check in voters.
"No more A through Z lines; everyone goes to whatever line is shortest and checks in," Little said. "Instead of finding the voter's name on a printed checklist, the election official will be using a tablet that contains data for all registered voters in the city."
Little said the city will deploy four poll pads at each voting location. The tablets, which contain all voters' names, addresses, party affiliations and wards, will be connected through what Little said is a secure network. A benefit of using the poll pads, she explained, is it will allow election officials to easily find a voter who has recently moved to a new ward.
She said it will make a big difference for registered voters.
"Right now, you walk up and give your driver's license and they check that and start flipping through the pages of the checklist, which is three or four binders," she said. "Now it'll be just 12 to 19 seconds."
Using the new tablets, election staffers will be able to scan the barcode off the back of a driver's license to look a voter up, or type in the first three letters of their name. Once they're checked in, voters will be given a receipt that they will take to another table and exchange for a ballot.
Gov. Chris Sununu signed legislation in 2021 allowing the use of electronic poll books. Keene will join roughly 20 other communities statewide in implementing the technology, according to Little.
Using surplus funds from fiscal year 2022-23, Little said the city spent $36,340 to purchase 20 tablets.
"I think if you have multiple wards and it's a large enough community with like 3,000 voters, those are the types of communities for this equipment," she said. "If you're a small town with one check-in point with 700 voters, it might not be worth the expense."
According to election data from Keene's municipal election in November, 2,998 ballots were cast out of 15,241 registered voters.
Little said the new technology will also expedite the process for collecting and reporting election data to the state. In addition to voters' party affiliation, the e-poll tablets will keep track of all voters with out-of-state driver's licenses, first-time voters, any name changes and people who come to the polls without identification. While normally these data are compiled by hand and making hatch marks, taking days, Little said this will now be virtually instantaneous.
"It will mean significant, significant efficiency gained on the back end," she said.
During the presidential primary on Jan. 23, Keene's polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the following locations:
- Ward 1: Michael E.J. Blastos Community Room, 400 Marlboro St., next to the police department
- Ward 2: Keene Recreation Center, 312 Washington St.
- Ward 3: Keene Middle School, 167 Maple Ave.
- Ward 4: Symonds School, 79 Park Ave.
- Ward 5: Monadnock Covenant Church, 90 Base Hill Road
More information on voting in the N.H. Primary in Keene, including a ward map, can be found on the city's website at keenenh.gov/city-clerk/elections-voting.
©2024 The Keene Sentinel, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
