Ballot-voting machines to be tested in Hanover on Tuesday

Two towns will be testing ballot-counting machines at elections Tuesday, the latest step as the state decides how to replace the aging AccuVote machines.

Hanover and Moultonborough, N.H., will use ballot-counting devices produced by Election Systems & Software and VotingWorks, respectively, at their May 9 municipal elections. They are among the relatively few New Hampshire towns which hold annual meetings and elections in May rather than March.

These tests follow tests during March elections of three models of ballot-counting machines, and tests last November of another. Audits after each election have shown that all models perform adequately.

These pilots have been approved by the Ballot Law Commission, a 10-person body whose members are appointed by the Legislature and the governor, that will make recommendations about how and whether to get new machines.

New Hampshire has used AccuVote machines to count ballots for three decades. They run on the long-unsupported operating system Windows XP and repairs can only be done by cannibalizing other machines, including many bought from other states that have stopped using them.

There is no timeline for replacing the AccuVote machines.

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