Town Meeting May See Handheld Voting Devices

When town moderator candidate Mark DiSalvo was exploring the possibility for electronic handheld voting devices at Town Meeting, he discovered that local officials are exploring the idea as well.

“I was delighted to learn that Town Clerk Joyce Bradshaw and new Town Manager Andrew Maylor are working with the town’s IT director and looking into a system of handheld wireless devices to count votes at Town Meeting," DiSalvo said. "This forward thinking deserves loud applause."

Bradshaw confirmed the news and said handheld voting devices could make Town Meeting more efficient.

"They would allow us to have voters cast their vote and it would be recorded," Bradshaw said. "Should we have a Town Meeting with lots of hand counts (sometimes happens with Legislative Petitions when the vote is not unanimous), it can take 10 minutes or more to count and verify the vote."

Such devices and they have become very popular there. Proponents say the devices allow votes to be measured more accurately and offer individual voters privacy, as opposed to having people stand up to vote.

"It was very well received in Wayland and I believe they have moved forward in procuring," Bradshaw said. "Other communities are exploring using it as well. They use similar technology in the classrooms with students. Matt Killen is exploring what is out there. Of course cost is a factor, but streamlining Town Meeting has many advantages."

In addition to being CEO of the global firm Semaphore, DiSalvo is a lecturer at the Johnson School of Business at Cornell University and the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University and frequently moderates professional conferences and symposia.

“I am intimately familiar with wireless audience response systems, as I use them professionally in my role as a frequent speaker and moderator at large professional symposiums" DiSalvo said. "Audiences appreciate the ability to respond quickly and have their opinions immediately measured. In fact, a frequent comment I receive speaking to neighbors and on the is about the use of this technology."

DiSalvo has made advancing technology at Town Meeting a key part of his campaign.

“Technology is getting us closer and closer to help make open Town Meeting wholly relevant in the 21st century as a venue for true participatory democracy,” DiSalvo added.