Associated Press
ST. PAUL — New voting boards being installed in the Minnesota Senate chamber promise to give a clearer view of what’s going on.
The old electromechanical voting system had senators’ names with red and green lights showing their yes-and-no votes. But those lights were often hard to see.
The new voting boards, which are being installed this week, will have the senators’ names along with green Y’s for "yes" votes and red N’s for "no" votes. In addition, there will be a display that not only shows the bill number, but also gives a subject description of the legislation with the name of the senator sponsoring it.
Jim Greenwalt, director of Senate information systems, says the old voting system was installed in 1980 and needed to be replaced.
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The new voting board is part of a $500,000 system that also includes voting buttons for senators and touch screens for clerks.
