Local company unveils mobile voting site

Elections directors from most of North Carolina’s 100 counties here for training beginning today will be the first elections officials in the country to see a new, New Bern product, a mobile voting precinct called the MVP.

Developed by Dunn Office Solutions – Print Elect of New Bern, the all-American looking 38-foot Winnebago has an interior designed to hold elections officials and as many as 15 voting machines and voters.

The MVP will enable local election officials to bring the vote to the people in communities throughout the country, said Owen D. Andrews, company president and CEO.

“We have researched and developed the MVP to be an Election Day problem-solver,” Andrew said. “Its versatility and mobility can help jurisdictions nationwide to alleviate lines, increase voter education efforts and voter registration, and solve many of the problems that occur before, during and after polling hours.”

Andrews demonstrated outside the office at Dr. M.L. King Jr. Boulevard and Red Robin Lane. Working Wednesday with a staff that includes Tiffiney Miller, former Craven elections director, he transformed the mobile voting precinct in minutes, from a precinct with paper ballots and an optical scan counter to one with direct record electronic voting “touch-screen” machines.

He said the mobile unit can adjust quickly to accommodate private organizations or company voting like those of trade groups and unions, electric membership cooperatives and groups like the NAACP.

“Jurisdictions across the country struggle with a shortage of staff and site locations during regular and early voting,” Andrews said, “as well as overcrowding at the polls, lack of equipment during peak hours, voter registration and education issues. The MVP can bring much-needed relief at a time when voter turnout and participation is key.”

It is designed to accommodate both Help America Vote and American Disabilities Act requirements — “really, it’s kind of built around them,” Andrews said. A rear side door swings out and a ramp comes down to allow handicap access to an AutoMark ballot and a ballot scanner that can be adjusted to height.

It is also safe and secure, he said, with motion detectors and double-lock security.

Andrews said he hasn’t set up all the pricing options yet — they’ll include options from outright purchase to renting for as short as a month — but the unit is going to retail between $200,000 and $300,000 depending on options. A smaller 33-foot version will sell for $150,000 and $200,000 depending on options. 

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.