Lucas County stopped using antiquated, bulky lever machines in 2004, switching to much smaller, lighter optical scanning devices.

Wrestling each of the hulking 800-pound machines into precincts took time and effort from several people. As then elections director Paula Hicks-Hudson told The Blade in 2004, the logistics and number of people it took to set up an election was like “deploying an army.”

In this 1996 Blade archive photo, a city election crew unloads a machine to be used at All Saints Lutheran Church on Heatherdowns Boulevard. Chris Gilmore, top, of B&G Moving holds one of the booths going into the church while Jack Hatcher, also of B&G Moving, and Bruce Temple from the Board of Elections guide it down the ramp.

The decision to replace the machines was influenced by several fac

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