In an effort to reduce the wait times at vote centers in the county, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors voted 2-1 to approve the funding request of $50,000 to the elections department to purchase additional voting equipment.
Supervisors Peggy Judd and Ann English voted in favor and Supervisor Tom Crosby voted against approving the funding request.
The funds will go towards the purchase of 10 new Elections Systems and Software ExpressVote machines.
In a December work session, Cochise County Elections Director Tim Mattix said that some vote centers in the 2022 General Election reported wait times greater than 30 minutes.
Mattix said that by law and as outlined in the Elections Procedure Manual, the officer in charge of elections must establish and approve a wait time reduction plan to ensure voters don’t have to wait in line to vote for more than 30 minutes.
