A bill currently alive in the state legislature would require all counties to use the same barcode system for tracking absentee ballots in elections.

House File 608 advanced out of the State Government Committee last week. It would ensure absentee ballots that are mailed on time are counted in a consistent way, and all counties would have to use the same barcode system by the 2020 election. District 20 Representative Ray Sorensen, (R) who serves on the State Government Committee, says details still need to be fleshed out regarding how much a new system would cost to counties, but he explains the reasoning for this bill, “I think the good (reason) why is we truly need to pick up the pieces of this last election where there were inaccuracies and people’s votes didn’t get counted. The way to do that is to continue to work to make the system better without barring people from voting, continue to make sure their vote is valid and counted and I think that’s what this bill aims to do.”

You can hear about other current bills in the legislature from Sorensen in Monday’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County program at raccoonvalleyradio.com.