Staff reporter Daniel Connolly files this report:
Soon after polls opened this morning at Balmoral Presbyterian Church in East Memphis, a staffer with The Commercial Appeal noticed that poll workers were having trouble locating some voters' records using the new touch-screen electronic poll books.
This led to delays and a long line, but the workers resolved it relatively quickly.
Shelby County Election Commission administrator Richard Holden didn't address what happened at Balmoral directly, but said there are some problems around the city because poll workers are still unfamiliar with the electronic poll books.
"The issue is that we are using the electronic poll book for the very first time, and so in the future it will be much smoother for those voters who have an up-to-date voter registration," he said.
Election officials use paper methods to handle voters who don't have an up-to-date registration, which takes longer, Holden said.
The gray touch-screen poll books are about the size of a sheet of paper and allow poll workers to register and sign in voters as well as program the cards they use to vote on electronic machines.
The devices are portable, which means a poll worker can walk up to voters in line and quickly determine if someone has gone to the wrong polling place.
The Election Commission bought 670 of the devices last year for a total of $2.25 million.
Until now, the election commission has used paper poll books.
Soon after polls opened this morning at Balmoral Presbyterian Church in East Memphis, a staffer with The Commercial Appeal noticed that poll workers were having trouble locating some voters' records using the new touch-screen electronic poll books.
This led to delays and a long line, but the workers resolved it relatively quickly.
Shelby County Election Commission administrator Richard Holden didn't address what happened at Balmoral directly, but said there are some problems around the city because poll workers are still unfamiliar with the electronic poll books.
"The issue is that we are using the electronic poll book for the very first time, and so in the future it will be much smoother for those voters who have an up-to-date voter registration," he said.
Election officials use paper methods to handle voters who don't have an up-to-date registration, which takes longer, Holden said.
The gray touch-screen poll books are about the size of a sheet of paper and allow poll workers to register and sign in voters as well as program the cards they use to vote on electronic machines.
The devices are portable, which means a poll worker can walk up to voters in line and quickly determine if someone has gone to the wrong polling place.
The Election Commission bought 670 of the devices last year for a total of $2.25 million.
Until now, the election commission has used paper poll books.
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