Indiana county approves $3M for new voting machines

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - A county in northern Indiana plans to spend $3 million for new touch screen voting machines.

The South Bend Tribune reports the St. Joseph County Council unanimously approved the spending Tuesday for machines for all of its 146 polling locations.

The decision came after the county's election board said that software updates were no longer available for its current machines, which are more than 15 years old and are plagued by maintenance issues.

County Clerk Rita Glenn, a member of the election board, says they plan to "make sure the process for voting is seamless, so that there are no questions from the public when we process votes."

The county Board of Commissioners is expected to consider approving a contract this spring for the machines with the county's election vendor.