"To have something that looks like a voting machine out there . . . being used to play Pac-Man on would create perception problems."--Ohio SoS Frank LaRose
Many items no longer needed by government offices in Ohio are offered for sale to the general public via GovDeals.com. One deal you could get in Licking County from its Board of Elections via the website was Diebold AccuVote TSx voting machines-touchscreens are on their way out of use but some brands are still voted on by too many people (25% spread across at least five states in this country last time I checked). Each machine cost $2700 twelve years ago. For a few months, the county posted them for $7-$19.
"Be creative" was the accompanying ad. Actual election software was at least removed from the sales.
SoS Frank LaRose, uninspired, objected to recycling the contraptions for other uses, and so the sales were overruled.
High school students were able to turn the machinery into simple arcade games, cash registers, and for use in student elections. There was even the capability to play Pac-Man or college athletic fighting songs, as was done in an experimental period in Washington, DC by a team of experts from the University of Michigan in 2010 . . .
Read on at Frank Kovac, "Students find new uses for old Ohio voting machines that shouldn't have been sold to [Ohio] Dispatch," click here
