Carson City, NV (AP) - Local officials in rural Nevada decided on Thursday to replace equipment manufactured by Dominion Voting Systems — a sign that unsubstantiated concerns about election machine tampering are still prevalent more than a year after the 2020 election.
In Lander County, population 5,734, commissioners approved $223,000 in spending for new ES&S voting machines and $69,000 for maintenance, installation and training. ES&S equipment is federally certified and used throughout the country, including in Carson City.
The equipment will replace Dominion’s suite of voting equipment, which was the subject of conspiracy theories in the aftermath of the 2020 election, with Trump campaign attorneys suggesting without evidence that the company’s equipment had ties to Venezuela, George Soros and Antifa.
The commissioners decided to replace Dominion equipment after outgoing County Clerk Sadie Sullivan, who oversees local elections, told them in October that the company had been a reliable partner. They said their scrutiny of Dominion machines wasn’t because they thought Lander’s elections was victim to foul play, but because they weren’t sure about the machines elsewhere.
Though Trump won nearly 80% of the vote in Lander County, commissioners have considered an Arizona-style voting machine audit and earlier this year floated a proposal to hand-count ballots in future elections.
Sullivan told commissioners that it would be difficult under state law and their contract with Dominion to seize the machines and said hand-counting can lead to inaccuracies and human error.
Commissioners in Elko County are also considering new voting machines.