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Some election machines in McLennan County are 10-years-old

Posted at 7:43 PM, Nov 05, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-05 20:44:52-05

Many voters in McLennan County braved long lines in order to vote. Some of those voters casted their ballots in 10 year old machines.

People trying to vote at First Assembly of God Church had to wait in lines that some say took over 30 minutes.

"You're a pretty dedicated voter if you do that, and I noticed a lot of people leaving," said one voter who left the line.

Some people said the delay could be due to a large voter turn out, or just the amount of ballot choices and reading that needs to be done, but others blame outdated machines.

"These voting machines are ancient. It's almost laughable when you look at the technology compared to what's out there now," said Mary Duty with the McLennan County Elections Commission.

Duty said machines in some polling places are as old as 2005.

"We need machines that we can count on, that are accurate, that will be efficient" said Duty.

Waco City Councilmember Hector Sabido said the City has already been making moves to try and update the machines.

"I think the City is definitely in agreement that we start looking at other options than what we currently have," said Sabido

Sabido said they've been looking to invest in new machines but that's not happening anytime soon, despite the fact that the presidential election is next year.