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. 

 

However, on these items, the town moderator can decide not to use the devices, he said. 

 

The committee recommended gathering input from the community before making a decision. Hunt will be at the next Select Board meeting on Sept. 14 to discuss this further. 

 

The committee reached out to companies that provide Electronic Voting Devices– Lumina, Option Technologies, Point Solutions (formerly Echo 360), and Merida. Two of the companies did not respond. 

 

Nine communities in Eastern Massachusetts use Point Solutions, but it does not offer rental options. The fixed cost to purchase the devices would be $18,880. 

 

Merida is used by over 90 municipalities in Massachusetts and has both rental and purchase options. 

 

The total cost of renting the devices, including the $4,500 in travel expenses and setup/breakdown services, is $4,800. Should a purchase be made, the rental cost would be deducted toward the purchase cost, with a projected total fixed cost of $14,270.

 

The committee met with a representative with Merida, who answered their questions, and the town committee expressed full confidence in its service and product, the committee's report said. 

 

The representative said that the town can incur a yearly cost of 1000, but it's not necessary," Pagliarulo said. 

 

"He really said you don't need to, because once you have the system set, it runs itself. And by the way…it's a dedication frequency," he said.

 

"So, if someone is trying to break in or what have you, disrupt the vote, it doesn't happen because of dedicated frequency. But he was saying no maintenance is in order." 

 

The report said that the rent-to-purchase option is advisable so town personnel can observe and learn how to set up the system. 

 

"An individual(s) would be assigned such duty at a cost unknown at this time. Additional costs include election workers stationed at the entry/exit of Town Meeting to distribute and collect the EVD," the report said.