Election officials say voter turnout was light Tuesday, but that was expected for this election. And while those in Berks County who voted were focused on the races, there was a milestone being marked and you might not even have known.

  
>> OLIVIERI: They're 20 years old today.

>> REPORTER: The signs out here change every year. But Berks County's electronic voting machines have been a mainstay workhorse every Election Day for the past two decades. 

>> SEAMAN: Used them for the first time in the fall of '89. 

>> REPORTER: The ballot machines' debut election resembles this year's...even some of the same candidates. Nicholas Bybel for coroner... back then and now. Marianne Sutton was vying for Jury Commissioner. This year she's hoping to maintain her job as prothonotary. And way down at the bottom, is the name of the current South Heidelberg Township Manager who oversaw the change. 

>> SEAMAN: I remember when the election started, we were going frantic with calls coming in, but all in all it wasn't too bad. 

>> REPORTER: Ron Seaman says the decision to replace the old lever machines was made by the voters in the primary election in 1989. The newer electronic models cost the county a little over a million dollars. By November of that year, poll workers were up to speed on the upgrade. 

>> SEAMAN: The training was a bit of a shock to some of the older election board members. 

>> REPORTER: The current director of Election Services remembers the milestone. 

>> OLIVIERI: 20 years ago, I started with the county. That's the only reason how I remember. 

>> REPORTER: And with this election running smoothly, as with others in the past, there are no current plans to oust the voting machines from this office. 

>> OLIVIERI: They are great and we're very happy with them. 

>> REPORTER: I hear the only downside to the machines is that each one weighs about a hundred pounds. They are still under warranty though. They came with a 25-year guarantee.

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