A vote taken Friday morning will have an impact on how most Warren County residents vote in future elections.

Warren Fiscal Court approved the request of County Clerk Lynette Yates to buy election equipment, to include electronic poll books and software updates, from Knowink Innovative Election Solutions in what is expected to be the first step in several changes coming in how elections are conducted.

The $256,700 purchase, to be covered by a Kentucky Department of Local Government grant, is needed because the state’s election poll book contract with Tennex Election Systems will expire in May.

“Counties across the state are having to purchase and contract with new vendors before the May primary,” Yates explained in her letter requesting the purchase.

A second request made by Yates – this one to purchase Verity Print Bundles that allow for printing ballots on demand – was pulled from the agenda until county officials can determine if the $106,737 purchase will also be reimbursed by the state.

That ballot-printing equipment is already available on a limited basis in the county, but adding more will allow Yates to realize her goal of having print-on-demand ballots at each polling place.

“We currently must have all ballot faces at each of our voting locations,” Yates said. “Last election, we had 119 different ballot faces at each location.”

Rather than having all those ballot faces pre-printed and available at each voting center, Yates explained that the new equipment would allow for printing of ballots at each site.

“These printers will cut down on waste of unused ballots and human error of the wrong ballot being given out,” she said.

With the state moving away from the traditional precinct voting and going to the vote centers that have been used in recent elections, Yates said print-on-demand ballots are needed.

The vote centers are here to stay, Yates said, although some changes are in the works.

She said on Friday that three days of early voting will continue to be held at five locations but that voting on Election Day in both the primary and general elections will likely be expanded beyond the eight locations that were used last year.

“I’m pretty confident that we’ll be adding two vote centers this year, and we could add a third one,” Yates said.

With a light turnout expected for this year’s elections for governor and other statewide offices, Yates said the timing is right to make changes leading up to 2024, when more choices will be on the ballot.

“This is the time to do it,” she said. “Next year, we’ll be ready.”

In addition to the election equipment, the magistrates approved a number of other spending items Friday.

To combat potential thefts and vandalism, they approved spending $22,834.10 for a security camera system at the county’s Sugar Maple Square property.

Among other items approved:

•Spending $26,386.54 to Dell for replacement computers and monitors for the county’s Public Works Department.

•An expense of $9,200 to Sprouse Container for two shipping containers to be used to securely store equipment at county parks.

•Spending $8,960.03 to Buck Electric for lighting upgrades at Phil Moore Park gymnasium.

•Spending $11,820 to Vine and Branch for preventive maintenance at Buchanon, Phil Moore and Ephram White parks.

•A 60-month lease agreement of $1,150.54 per month with Enterprise Fleet Management for a 2023 Ford F-250 with snowplow and salt spreader. It will replace a 2019 Ford F-250 that will be sold.

The magistrates also approved granting authority for the county to advertise for bids to renovate portions of the county courthouse’s second floor, home to the fiscal court meeting area and the offices of Judge-Executive Doug Gorman and other county officials.

The next meeting of Warren Fiscal Court is scheduled for Feb. 17 at 9 a.m.