CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – To comply with a new state law, the Montgomery County Election Commission has unveiled new voting machines that will provide a verifiable paper trail.
On April 27, 2022, a number of state senators, including local Sen. Bill Powers, introduced an amendment that would force election commissions in Tennessee to have their voting machines produce an audit trail.
The amendment passed and went into effect on June 3, 2022, with the expectation that the machines would be provided to the counties by Jan. 1, 2024, according to the County Technical Assistance Service.
Montgomery County Administrator of Elections Elizabeth Black told Clarksville Now that the local Election Commission has received around 200 new voting machines from the State of Tennessee.
Black said the only difference between the new voting machines and the old is that the voter can visually see who they voted for on a piece of paper after submitting their choices.
In addition, there is a QR code on the voter-verifiable paper trail that allows the Election Commission to cross reference ballots with the results on the voting machine to make sure the selections match for auditing purposes.
Correction: A previous version of this article had Sen. Bill Powers’ title incorrect. Also, the machine does not create a timestamp. The articl has been updated.