SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Shelby County Election Commission decided in an online meeting Wednesday that more information is needed before they choose a new voting system.
After hearing from dozens of citizens during a nearly hour long public comment time, Commissioners Brent Taylor and Bennie Smith said they didn’t feel comfortable moving forward with any system that they, and the public, knew nothing about.
In the end, they asked their attorney to set up a meeting with the mayor to see if there’s any way to make the voting systems available to the public for review.
They voted to postpone the final vote until all of the commissioners could meet in person, but said they hope to have that done by June 24.
Prior to Wednesday’s meeting there had been growing concern about how much input the public would have on the decision to but new equipment to process paper ballots faster.
Grassroots advocate Steve Mulroy said the Shelby County Election Commission will choose from a list of proposals but the public has not had a chance to see any of them.
“They are offering us a chance to do public comments before they do their decision,” Mulroy said. “But, it won’t be informed public comment because we will be blind and won’t have any information on what they are choosing from.”
Mulroy says the public input is crucial before the commission comes to a final vote.
“It’s $10 million dollars of the county’s taxpayers money but it also will lock in a voting system for the next 10 to 15 years,” Mulroy said.
Election officials were supposed to hold a public forum but the growing pandemic halted it.
