Plympton Replaces 97-Year-Old Ballot Box With Electronic Tabulators Before November Election

PLYMPTON -- July 8, 2024, Plympton Board of Selectmen votes unanimously to retire its 97-year-old hand-operated ballot box in favor of two electronic DS-200 ImageCast tabulators before the November presidential election. Town Clerk Tara Shaw told the board the switch is fully covered by a $12,879 state elections grant plus $1,400 in pending reimbursement from the state auditor, leaving a net out-of-pocket cost of zero from the general fund. Shaw cited escalating complexity from early-voting requirements, difficulty recruiting hand-count workers, who cost the town roughly $1,900 per election, and state audit procedures increasingly designed around electronic equipment as drivers of the change. The antique perfection ballot box, built in 1927, will be kept at Town Hall for display and loaned to Dennett Elementary School for civics education. The board also received word of an additional $99,000 in Chapter 90 roadway funds and set an August 5 agenda date to begin formally discussing a code of conduct for town boards modeled on templates from Easton and Duxbury.