FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Coconino County officials hope to use a drone to make it easier to get vote tallies from tribal land deep within the Grand Canyon.
Voting machines on the Havasupai (hav-uh-SOO’-peye) reservation have submitted election results electronically in recent years. But new equipment is forcing the county to make a change.
County recorder Patty Hansen says she’s working with the tribe and others to see if a drone could carry a memory stick with vote tallies out of the canyon next year. It then would be driven to Flagstaff where results are tabulated.
The actual ballots still would be hiked out of the reservation accessible only through an 8-mile (13-kilometer) trail or by helicopter.
Less than 40 people from the Havasupai reservation voted in the last major election.
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This story has been updated to clarify that officials are exploring whether a drone can carry out vote tallies, not actual ballots.
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Information from: KNAU-FM, http://www.knauradio.org/
