WICHITA, Kan. (KAKE) - Monday early voting centers open up in Sedgwick County. This year they'll have some new technology that election workers say will save the county money in the long term.

The Sedgwick County Deputy Election Commissioner, Melissa Schnieders, says it's all about making sure you can get the ballot for your district no matter which early voting site you show up at.

When Kansans head to the polls, your address determines which races you get to vote in, even which polling site you should go to. But during early voting, every polling site has to be ready for voters from any address and district in the county.

"So if you're a Viola voter but go to Park City we want your ballot style to be there," Schnieders said.

That's where this new machine comes in.

"They'll simply have their bar code scanned (and) that will print the correct ballot style for that voter," she said.

It may look like your ordinary printer but election workers say this machine will help save the county money. Previously, the county had to have pre-printed ballots available for every race at every early voting site. This meant reams of paper ballots the county had to pay to print. Many of which it then had to pay, again, to destroy when unused.

The election office has wanted these printers for awhile now, and had been saving up for them. But Schnieders says it's only the addition of the federal CARES Act pandemic funds that has allowed it to purchase the printers so soon.

"We didn't have these budgeted in before this year because they are expensive, as you can imagine," she said. "The initial purchase of any kind of electronic is expensive. Especially as many voting stations as we have."

Workers were still assembling the printers when we got a sneak peak at them this week. You can see them in action at any early voting site in Sedgwick County, starting at 8 a.m. Monday at the election office at Central and Main or 10 a.m. over at Intrust Bank Arena. More sites will open following week.