DALTON, Mass.— Town officials are considering using electronic voting devices at town meetings for privacy, efficiency, or even to increase participation. 

 

"The intent of these is to provide anonymity and privacy at our town meetings, to provide a faster, more efficient vote in light of controversial votes and amendments to town articles, and to potentially increase the number of voters at town meetings, given the above," said Select Board Member Antonio Pagliarulo at the board meeting on Monday. 

 

Several Berkshire County municipalities use Electronic Voting Devices, also referred to as clickers. 

 

The town previously established a Voting Options Ad Hoc Committee, which was made up of Town Clerk Heather Hunt, Assistant Warden Karen Filiault, Town Moderator Anthony Doyle and Pagliarulo. 

 

Hunt has indicated that 300 devices would be sufficient if the town decides to move forward, Pagliarulo said. 

 

"The ADA community, we had three responses from the community, and we've never really thought of this but there are a lot of elderly people that have a hard time lifting their hands up for a long time, and there's a lot of elderly people that don't have a voice," he said, highlighting how some older people have softer voices so may not be heard as much during a voice vote. 

 

There had been some concerns that the clickers would add time to meetings, as noncontroversial items that typically pass unanimously or nearly unanimously could take longer to vote on, Pagliarulo said.