Ten years old, nearly obsolete and prone to rejecting ballots, the town’s voting machine will be replaced with a new, state-of-the-art electronic one in time for the April election.

Voters at Monday night’s Special Town Meeting unanimously approved a $10,000 request from Selectman and Town Clerk Naida Parker to purchase the voting machine.

She said it recently earned approval from federal and state officials after a long wait.

“In my experience as Town Clerk the wheels of the federal and state government grind very slowly,” Parker said, adding that the approval process lasted five years.

Before the vote, resident Stephen Burke asked why the agenda item offered officials the option of either leasing or purchasing the machine.

“Why haven’t you picked one option?” Burke asked.

Parker said the Finance Committee initially wanted the option of researching a lease agreement. She then spoke about how a new machine was desperately needed.

“We have to do something,” Parker said. “Our machine is over ten years old and it’s going to break. We’re going to have to replace it.” Additionally, the current machine is no longer being manufactured.

She said between now and the 2016 presidential race, voters would have three elections to become familiarized with how to cast ballots.

After a few minutes, Burke gently interrupted Parker.

“I don’t need a civics lesson,” he joked. “I fully support the motion.”

Burke said he wanted clarification on his question.

Finance Committee Chair Kris Stoltenberg noted the committee had settled on purchasing the machine.

Resident Dennis McCarthy asked if the new machine had any safeguards against voter fraud.

Parker said the results will be stored on a flash drive that she will place inside a safe at Town Hall at the end of an election.