Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray says he thinks more Wyoming counties will implement voting centers rather than assigned polling places in future elections.

The centers allow voters to cast a ballot at any such center in the county rather than being assigned one location to vote

Murray, who is the state's top elections official, says many of the voting machines across Wyoming are 20 years old or older and are will soon need to be replaced

He notes the aging equipment will have to be dealt with at a time when state and local governments across the Cowboy State are facing a budget crunch due to the downturn in the state economy caused by low energy prices.

Murray says along with decisions about aging equipment clerks across Wyoming will, in many cases, have to consider whether they want to implement voting centers and electronic poll books. The centers allow residents to vote at any voting center in the county, using the e-poll books to check off registered voters and cross-reference with other centers to prevent the casting of multiple ballots.

He says Laramie, Teton, and Carbon counties used the centers this year. Murray says he got positive reports from those counties, adding among voters the change was "very, very well embraced."

But he says the bill passed by legislators in 2015 allowing for the voting centers left the decision about whether to implement the centers up to each of the 23 county clerks in the state.

He says there is some cost involved in implementing the centers, but he notes the aging voting equipment in many counties will have to be replaced one way or another anyway.

Murray predicts that many clerks across the state will see the advantages of the centers and decide to implement them in coming years

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