Stark County commissioners expect to make a decision by March 15 on whether to approve buying Dominion voting machines for the general election in November, said Commissioner Bill Smith.
A vote could take place on Wednesday at the three-member board s weekly teleconference meeting, he said. It would be up to Stark County Administrator Brant Luther by Tuesday whether to put the item on the Wednesday agenda.
Smith said he has not yet decided if he ll vote to approve the purchase. Commissioners have met a few times in closed-door sessions to discuss the purchase of public property and met with the county s attorneys to discuss possible imminent court action. Smith declined to confirm if they discussed the voting machines purchase in executive session.
CANTON Dozens of local supporters of former President Donald Trump have flooded the phone lines of the Stark County commissioners to share doubts, raise questions or passionately express opposition to the county buying Dominion voting machines, which Trump claimed without credible evidence were hacked in November to cost him re-election.
In a two-hour meeting with commissioners, the Republican director of the Stark County Board of Elections stood by his recommendation that the county buy the 1,450 Dominion Voting Systems touchscreen machines as part of a roughly $6.5 million order.
The state would cover $3.27 million, the county would get a trade-in credit on old voting machines of $1.71 million and the cost to the county would be about $1.5 million.