BURLINGTON -- A computer program designed in Cerro Gordo County is expected to speed up voting by helping poll workers cut time spent processing voters.
The program, Precinct Atlas, has been tested in special elections in Butler, Johnson, Appanoose, Buena Vista and Monona counties, and a mock election modeled after Election Day in 2008 was held. In three hours, poll workers processed 511 voters on two laptop computers.
"That is 2,000 voters a day," said Cerro Gordo Auditor Ken Kline. "There are not many precincts in the state that have 2,000 voters show up on Election Day."
The program helps officials load statewide voter-registration information and helps poll workers through the processing process.
The program is designed specifically for Iowa law. The state reimbursed the Cerro Gordo County Auditor's Office $30,000 for the program and distributes it free to each county, though counties must pay for their own computers. More than 50 of Iowa's 99 counties have adopted the program.
