Mid Rivers Newsmagazine 2-7-24

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February 7, 2024
MID RIVERS NEWSMAGAZINE
I NEWS I 13
County approves election services contract in spite of controversy
By JOHN TREMMEL
Voter trust in election results and in voting
technology was discussed and debated at
length during the St. Charles County Council
meeting on Jan. 29 when the council
unanimously voted to remove an election
services contract item from the meeting’s
consent agenda in order to discuss and vote
on it separately.
Passionate questions, answers and explanations
consumed more than an hour of the
one-and-a-half hour meeting. At the heart of
the discussion was a $651,343 per-year contract
with Henry M. Adkins & Son Inc., of
Clinton, Missouri, to provide election services
prior to and on election dates in 2024,
with renewal options for 2025 and 2026.
Election services include:
• Prior to Election Day, printing ballots
for each individual jurisdiction’s elections,
providing operational support for and maintenance
of voting equipment, assisting in
testing and programming the software necessary
to administer elections, and providing
support for public testing.
• On Election Day, assisting in the tabulation
of ballots using voting equipment and
tabulation flash drives, troubleshooting
and providing remedies to voting equipment
issues, providing election results and
canvassing documentation for the Election
Night Reporting website and Secretary of
State reporting.
During the meeting’s public comments,
three speakers spoke against the current
voting machines and system.
The first speaker said he thought the previous
method of using paper ballots “instead
of technology” for voting and counting was
better, more trusted and with fewer problems.
The second speaker alleged that the
Unisyn voting machines are not federal
and state certified. She also said that having
Adkins as the provider of the systems and
the tester for certification is the equivalent
of “the fox watching the hen house.”
The county’s voting machines are manufactured
and its software is written in San
Diego by Unisyn. The machines and software
are distributed, supported and certified
by Unisyn with Henry M. Adkins & Sons
Inc. as the exclusive authorized franchise
representative for Missouri, Kansas and
Iowa. Only a Unisyn Voting Solutions certified
vendor can maintain and calibrate the
voting machines under this certification.
The third speaker told the council, “We
have been telling you for two years now
these machines are not properly certified,
and nothing has been done about it. Here
we are, only a few weeks before we have to
print the ballots for the (municipal) election,
and the council is just now voting on this.
“Everything in this bill sounds like Kurt
Bahr’s job. If we’re outsourcing this administration,
why do we need Kurt?”
She called for ending the use of vote tabulating
machines and returning to manually
counting ballots.
“If you need more people to count the ballots,
just call us, we will be there,” she said.
As a physical therapist
specializing in the aging process,
I have witnessed firsthand the
profound impact of neuropathy on
the lives of my patients. The
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Council member Matt Swanson (District
1) asked Bahr to address the issues and
questions raised by the speakers.
Accordingly, Bahr said, “St. Charles
County has had a contractual relationship
with Henry M. Adkins & Sons Inc. since
1984. For the last 40 years, this company
has printed our ballots and programmed our
election machines. What I am asking is to
continue that relationship.”
Previously, Bahr had been accused of not
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