PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — New voting equipment arrived by the truckload at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Office on Wednesday.
Back in February, commissioners approved the purchase of more than $15 million in new tabulation machines following the controversial November election.
The equipment includes hundreds of high speed digital scanners, ExpressVote terminals, and computers from Election Systems & Software, LLC. The equipment is certified by the Department of State.
"It's really designed to make an election be as smooth as it can be," said Wendy Sartory Link, the new Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections. "Other counties are now upgrading to the equipment that we're buying."
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During the November election, malfunctioning equipment caused the Supervisor of Elections Office to miss a recount deadline in the highly contested Governor and U.S. Senate races,as well as the race for Agriculture Commissioner.
The failure to meet that deadline led to the suspension and eventual resignation of former Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher.
"As the supervisor, I take full responsibility, that’s my job," Bucher told WPTV in November. "It’s not for lack of human effort. The human effort was incredible and I thank everyone. But the fact of the matter is when there’s mechanical failures, there’s not much I can do about it."
Gov. Ron DeSantis replaced Bucher with Sartory Link, an attorney who plans to serve until 2020, but won't seek re-election.
Sartory Link said her office also purchased a secure server that will be monitored by the Department of Homeland Security.
"I actually have a meeting with the FBI next week to make sure that we're doing everything that we can possibly do," said Sartory Link.
Sartory Link added it will take a few weeks for the new equipment to be put together and programmed.