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How the Louisiana Secretary of State plans to replace voting machines
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BATON ROUGE -- Secretary of State Nancy Landry is pushing to replace Louisiana's voting machines.
According to Landry's office, the machines used by Louisiana for casting ballots are 35 years old, and the replacement parts for them are no longer manufactured.
"It's really old and outdated and needs to be replaced. The machines are breaking, and we don't have the necessary parts to repair them. We have to cannibalize machines that are working to fix machines that break," Landry said back in January.
Secretary Landry says they already have $75 million dedicated to the new voting machines, but that an additional $25 million would help fully fund the overhaul.
"The voting technology fund has been funded by the legislature for many years now, and we also have had HAVA (Help American Vote Act) funds through the federal government that are matching funds," First Assistant Secretary of State Catherine Newsome.
The new system would have new touchscreen voting machines that print paper ballots and have climate-controlled facilities for storage.
"We had six different vendors come to the old governor's mansion, who were seeking certification for Louisiana state standards, which were promulgated by the rules. We will see which of those six come forward through the bid process," Newsome said.
As for when that could happen, Newsome says the hope is the end of 2026.
"The Secretary of State's office hopes that an award will be made by the end of 2026, and we will have a phased-in implementation process. It could take two to three years to implement. We will start in the first year with a couple of large, small, and medium parishes and then roll out each year from there," Newsome said.
The state legislature doles out small appropriations of around $10 million to the fund each year. In total, it would need $100 million to fully overhaul the state's voting systems.
The Secretary of State's office believes it currently has enough money to do the first rollout. Any additional expenses would go towards cybersecurity protections and risk-limiting audits.
However, the Louisiana Democratic Party says this is not needed.
"Just last year, we talked about doing hiring freezes, about not having enough money and resources for us to move forward, and possibly freezing our budget. Now, we need $100 million for new voter machines," LDP Executive Director Dadrius Lanus said.
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