County OKs $13.6M purchase of new voting machines

Despite a fire that destroyed Harris County’s voting machines Friday, County Clerk Beverly Kaufman said she intends to keep all polling places open with replacement machines on Nov. 2.

Commissioners Court approved Kaufman’s emergency plan this afternoon to spend $13.6 million to buy 2,325 electronic voting machines and supporting equipment.

“Your polling place is going to be open early and on election day. You’ll be able to vote conveniently as you’re accustomed to doing,” Kaufman said afterward.

Kaufman’s request included 1.4 million paper ballots, which will be distributed to polling stations as a backup in case a shortage of machines leads to long lines.

A fire before dawn on Friday destroyed the building that housed all 10,000 of the county’s voting machines. The cause of the blaze has not been determined, but arson investigators returned to 606 Canino today to continue their investigation, Houston Fire Department spokesman Patrick Trahan said.

The 27,800-square-foot warehouse and contents were a total loss. Kaufman said she expects to ask for more money before election day but had no estimate this afternoon on how much.

The county was insured for $41 million worth of materials in the building, as well as $1.5 million on the building itself, said David Kester, the county’s risk manager. Kaufman said it is possible the county could get even more insurance money to cover the costs of demolition and site cleanup, plus construction upgrades required to meet building codes established since the warehouse was built in 1976.

Kaufman continued her call for early voting as a way to head off long lines at the 739 election day polling stations. Early voting begins Oct. 18.