New voting machines will be coming in Louisiana. But it will still take years before voters cast their ballot on those new machines. That’s the word from Louisiana Secretary of State Nancy Landry. She says while the new model has not been chosen yet one thing is for sure. In accordance with a new state law there will be a paper component. “The voters verified that it’s the most accurate and it’s either scanned into a separate scanner or it’s kept in the machine and rolled into a locked box.”
As Andrew Greenstein with the Louisiana Radio Network Reports, Landry says having the paper ballot will allow the state to easily verify the machine vote tally. “A way that the voter can verify that their vote is accurate, and a way for us to verify the result of the machine tally.”
Landry says the state has not yet issued a request for proposals and there’s a lengthy approval process. Therefore, it will be a few years before voters will start casting their ballots on the new machines. “I don’t think we’ll have it in time for the 2026 midterms — maybe the first pilot program in a couple parishes where we’re testing it out.”
Landry says the current machines have just about outlived their usefulness. “Our machines that we use currently are over 30 years old.” Landry notes that the current machines are “falling apart,” and the state can no longer get replacement parts for them.
