Dougherty voters can try out voting machines this week ahead of March election

ALBANY — Dougherty County voters can get a look at the new voting machines they will be using multiple times this year during a Thursday presentation. The Dougherty County Voter Registration and Elections office will show a video presentation and have some of the machines on hand for a demonstration.

A federal court judge ruled last year that the state’s aging voting system could not be used beyond local elections held in fall 2020. When most area voters go to the polls for the presidential primary in March, it will be their first time using the new equipment.

The new system is very similar to the old. Voters receive a digital card that is inserted into the voting machine. The touchscreen design is similar, as are the menus. The only difference is that after voters finish making ballot choices on the screen, they receive a paper printout. Once voters review the paper copy and are satisfied it reflects their choices, they insert it into a scanner.

Some of the confusion may lie in the impression some voters have that they receive a paper copy to keep.

“There’s no receipt,” Dougherty County Elections Supervisor Ginger Nickerson said.

“You get to review your ballot, your choices, on paper, and if you’re happy, you submit that. We want to kind of get our voters out and let them see what they’ll be voting on for the first time.”

Voters will have several opportunities during 2020 to get familiar with the equipment. After the March presidential primary, the state’s general primary falls in May. The general election for the presidential year is in November.

Voters in several Georgia counties, including Decatur in southwest Georgia, used the new system as part of a pilot program last year. Others already have used them in special elections as voters in Lee County and several other nearby counties will do on Tuesday in a special election for the state Senate District 13 seat.

“We just want them to come out and ask questions if there are any questions we can answer,” Nickerson said. “We just want them to be familiar. You can come out and put your hands on it and see how it works.”

The informational meeting starts at 6 p.m. in Room 100 of the Albany-Dougherty Government Center at 222 Pine Ave.

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