Oakland County Taps Wireless Technology to Expedite Election Results

Oakland County on Tuesday was set to become the second county in the United States to tap wireless technology to transmit election results more quickly after the polls close.

Even before poll workers finished turning in election materials and absentee voting boards finished processing ballots, results for most precincts in Farmington and Farmington Hills had already been reported. 

The analog modems on vote tabulator and absentee ballot counting board machines throughout Oakland County have been upgraded with wireless cellular modems that will allow unofficial results to be transmitted from communities to the county as soon as the polls close at 8 p.m., Oakland County Clerk Bill Bullard said Tuesday.

The analog vote tabulator machines were purchased in 2005 using federal funds provided by the state, Bullard said. Oakland County spent $344,000 on the wireless upgrade, which was performed by Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software , he said.

"Oakland County is the leader (in Michigan)," Bullard said. "There is only one other county (nationwide) doing it."

Hennepin County in Minnesota, where Minneapolis is located, already has implemented the technology, he said.

Bullard said all of the election results will be encrypted before they are transmitted and will be unencrypted at Oakland County election headquarters.

"Even if it wasn't encrypted, after 8 p.m. we want people to know the results," he said.

"The whole point of this is to let people know the results of the election as soon as possible," Bullard said. "We're convinced this will be the fastest Election Night reporting for a presidential election in Oakland County history."