The Nov. 7 state constitutional amendment election will be conducted largely with paper ballots in Wood County.

County commissioners voted Friday on an emergency purchase for $311,771 with Hart InterCivic for ballot readers, paper ballots and special voting machines compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

County Judge Kevin White explained that Wood County’s aging voting system no longer has enough functioning machines to conduct the constitutional amendment election.

Though Hart continues to support it, parts and batteries are no longer available, according to elections administrator Laura Wise.

The purchase includes two ballot readers and two ADA machines for each polling location and the paper ballots.

The ADA machines can be requested by any voter.

White said the purchase was deemed an emergency because it needed to be done prior to the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30.

He added that there was no sense in ordering all new equipment at this time.

The next election, which will be the party primaries in March, is not conducted by the county, like the constitutional amendment election.

The political parties may choose to contract with the county, but as of early this week, discussions were still ongoing whether a joint election would be held and whether the parties would contract with the county.

The county also recently purchased new electronic pads which are used at each polling location to check in voters.

Deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 election is Oct. 10.