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JACKSON – The Northampton County Board of Commissioners took care of some routine business at their meeting here on July 18 by approving a maintenance contract for the county’s voting equipment.

Northampton Board of Elections Director Spinosa Clements presented the request to the Board. She noted that before the 2020 elections, contracts for voting equipment maintenance were done on one-year, three-year, or five-year terms.

“Now, agreements have to be renewed every year,” she explained, according to state statute.

Clements also reminded the commissioners that the county had purchased new equipment since the last time they renewed the maintenance contract.

That new equipment, which included a total of 20 tabulators, was purchased in August 2020 to replace voting equipment that was over a decade old.

The maintenance contract, which will be through Election Systems & Software, LLC, will total $22,738.79 for coverage through June, 30, 2023. It will cover hardware, software, and firmware maintenance for 20 tabulators and 25 Automarks (ADA Accessible Devices). The company is certified by the State Board of Elections.

Board Chair Charles Tyner asked if the cost of the maintenance had gone up or down compared to previous contracts.

“It has actually gone down,” Clements answered. “It went down because we have fewer tabulators [than before].”

At the time the tabulators were purchased in 2020, the county’s Board of Elections had recently consolidated a handful of voting precincts.

After Clements concluded her presentation, Commissioner Geneva Faulkner motioned to approve the maintenance contract, and Commissioner Nicole Boone seconded. The vote was unanimously in favor.