States scramble for funding to upgrade aging voting machines

AP:  AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- At least once a year, staffers in one of Texas' largest election offices scour the web for a relic from a bygone technology era: Zip disks.

The advanced version of the floppy disk that was cutting edge in the mid-1990s plays a vital role in tallying votes in Bexar County, where like other places around the U.S., money to replace antiquated voting equipment is scarce.

"I'd be dead in the water without our technical support people looking online to buy the pieces and parts to keep us going," said Jacque Callanen, elections administrator in the county that includes San Antonio and had 1 million-plus registered voters in the 2016 election.

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