New electronic poll books will take the place of the large stacks of paper election judges use to reference voter information at polling locations. The data, now stored on Dell netbooks, can now be accessed by scanning a voter registration card or swiping a driver's license.
"This takes the place of the big books you're used to seeing at the polling location," Noble said. "It's much more efficient."
Now, instead of flipping through sheets of paper and scanning a long list of names, election judges will simply scan the voter card or license to pull up a voter's information. They can even search for a voter by name. Election judges will immediately find the voter's status, precinct, city, school district and what ballot the voter needs. Judges will also be alerted if the voter has already voted.
"It tells our judges everything they need to look for," Noble said. "It has features that help us prevent voter fraud, not that we've had a problem with voter fraud."
The new system has benefits for the voter and the election judges.
If a voter accidentally attempts to vote at the wrong polling location on election day, the election judge will have immediate access to their correct polling location. Previously, the election judge would have to call the election office for the information.
"That takes time," Noble said. "Sometimes two or three minutes at the end of the day is the difference in someone being able to vote.
"It's a convenience factor for the voters and for us. Using the electronic poll books, we'll be able to send voting history by downloading the information. This will reduce the errors of manual input," Noble said. "It's more efficient and much quicker - the voter will get in and out quicker. It will also reduce human error. Those are three things that I think are important in the voting process."
The system is built to be easily updated with changes in the law.
"As the law changes, the system should be able to change with it," Noble said.
Early voting begins Monday, and the election judges will have their first chance to use the poll books in an official setting. Judges had a day of training Oct. 15 and also had access to the poll books for practice at the election's office.
During early voting, any Wise County voter can vote at any of the early voting locations, regardless of their precinct. The system is connected to the Internet and will be automatically updated, preventing voters from voting in multiple locations. Should the Internet connection go down during voting, all voter data is stored on the netbooks and will still be available to the judges. As soon as the connection is restored, the data will automatically be updated.
However, on Election Day Nov. 3, voters must vote at their precinct's polling location.
