BENTONVILLE — The Election Commission goes before the Committee of 13 on Tuesday to persuade the Quorum Court the county needs to purchase 200 electronic voting machines.

The $360,000 for the new machines is in the 2010 budget, and the commission hopes the Committee of 13 won't cut it from the budget.

There already has been talk of buying 100 voting machines rather than the 200, said Bill Williams, commission chairman.

"The 200 machines really change the complexion of what we do. The 100 machines can be used to fill in where we need them, but we cannot reduce our printing costs by 50 percent (unless all of the 200 machines requested are purchased,)" Williams said. "This is not a baby you can split in half."

With 200 new machines, the commission will be able to cut $96,256 from its budget. That money will be saved because the commission will no longer need to print as many paper ballots, said E.J. Miller, an election commissioner.

Still, "it is going to be a hard sell for all 200 machines to the Committee of 13," Williams said.

With the new machines, the commission believes it can increase election accuracy, reduce long-term cost, improve voter confidence and reduce the number of polling locations with the creation of Election Day supercenters.

The Committee of 13 meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central in Bentonville.

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