Concerns related to election security and hardware updates to secure access to the Washington County Courthouse in Bartlesville was discussed during Monday afternoon's County Budget Board meeting.

Yvonne House, the Secretary of the Washington County Election Board Office, presented the item before the board, saying the north door is open at all times. She said her solution would be to add a motion sensor because they still need to exit out the north door and it would just open the door like the west front doors do to let voters exit out, but people will not be able to get in.

The north door would still be handicap accessible. Cameras allow deputies to see who is coming in from the north door and there is typically a buzzer people can buzz in with. House said hardware updates are another concern they face because controls for the doors tend to go down sometimes to the point where they have to chain up the courthouse doors.

The controllers have had to be replaced three times in the past five years. During the meeting, it was noted that the hardware is approximately 10 to 11 years old.

The Washington County Budget Board approved to accommodate the Election Board's request to work on the north door before the Presidential Preferential Primary Election scheduled for Tuesday, March 3rd. A Special Washington County Election concerning the sales of alcoholic beverages on Sundays by Retail Spirit Licensees will also be held that day.

As for the hardware updates, no action was taken as they will wait to get quotes on how much it will cost to fix the concern.