New voting machines to cost Roanoke Co. $384,000

Board of elections de-certifies WinVote voting machines in Va. voting (Image 1) (Copyright by WSLS - All rights reserved)

ROANOKE COUNTY (WSLS 10) - The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors may soon be forced to spend nearly $400,000 for new voting machines.

On Tuesday, the board had a first reading on buying new optical scan voting machines. The new machines will cost $384,000, leave a paper trail and must be in place by November 2016.

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Supervisors were forced to act after the Virginia Department of Elections decertified WinVote touch screen voting machines used by the county in April. The move came after serious security flaws were found with the wireless network.

"We were hoping we would get some funding from the state," said supervisor Charlotte Moore. "That didn't happen and now we're still hopeful with the surplus the state is now receiving they may spend some money to help fund this."

On Monday, Governor Terry McAuliffe announced a $553 million state budget surplus. By law, most of that money will go toward the state's rainy day fund.

The Roanoke Co. Board of Supervisors will have a second reading on the new voting machines on July 28.