The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 to spend $2.1 million for the machines, which are expected to serve disabled voters in the fall elections. The state will reimburse the county for the purchase.
 
Supervisors Sharon Bronson, Ann Day and Ramón Valadez voted in favor.
Questions about the accuracy and security of the Diebold system made the purchase a tough decision, the three said.
But the county risked violating federal law and losing its reimbursement for the machines.
The board agreed that the county will conduct its own tests of the system before using the machines in the fall.
Supervisors Ray Carroll and Richard Elías voted against the purchase. Too many questions exist about their reliability, Elías said.
Arizona's top election official, Secretary of State Jan Brewer, said the machines are accurate and secure.
She criticized the county last month for delaying its purchase of the machines and said the Diebold is the only one that would work with Pima County's existing vote-tallying system.
The Diebold system will allow many disabled residents to vote who otherwise would not, said Peri Jude Radecic, public advocacy
director of the Arizona Center for Disability Law.
The disabled community worked hard to get the federal access law passed and has been frustrated by the controversy over the Diebold machines, she said.
Several residents who spoke to the board Tuesday questioned the security and accuracy of the Diebold touchscreen system.
Federal officials failed to properly test the Diebold system and Arizona officials rely on federal tests, said Tom Ryan, founder of Arizona Citizens for Fair Elections. "You are our last line of defense in preserving the integrity of elections in Arizona," he told the board.
In other business, the board:

• Approved a $7 million design contract for psychiatric facilities at the Kino hospital campus. The psych facility and urgent care unit were approved by voters last month.
• Approved a $1.2 million contract to build a Mount Lemmon Community Center, even though the lowest bid was $200,000 over the project's budget.
• Approved $110,000 in repairs at the Pima Motorsports Park, recently taken over by new management. The supervisors criticized the county's staff, saying it allowed previous management to let the park fall into disrepair.

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