Electronic Pollbooks

These devices have been in use in Anoka County polling places since 2018. The decision to use pollbooks has benefited Anoka County residents and provided greater efficiencies for election judges and administrators.  It is important to note that at no point in time are the pollbooks ever connected to the voting machines, and the information pollbooks access is securely encrypted.

Reduced Wait Times 

Gone are the days of standing in long check-in lines, divided alphabetically by last name, and seeing some lines empty while others take more time because voters in those lines have common last names. Voters can now use any line to check in and, instead of flipping through volumes of paper to find your name, an election judge can now simply do a quick search on the pollbook. Because of these efficiencies, the time you spend in the polling place has been drastically reduced.

Election Integrity

Paper rosters required a manual “Voted” stamp next to the name of every resident who voted absentee. This meant many hours of stamping by election officials, with the potential for mistakes. With pollbooks, this process is done instantaneously, without the possibility of human error. This process is repeated on Election Day as well for any absentee ballots that are received on that day. The ability to update a voter’s status in real time allows an election judge to instantly see if the person trying to check in already has a voted ballot.

Voter Privacy 

Each page of the paper roster listed  the names of multiple residents, which allowed for  the possibility of others seeing if you had checked in.  The pollbooks only display the information of the person who is currently checking in, thus increasing privacy for every voter. The Anoka County Elections Integrity page has more information on elections in the county.