Arkansas Lottery Commission says scanners work

Lottery ticket scanners are the little electronic machines sitting on the counter at more than 1,800 Arkansas Lottery Commission retailers all over the state. They “read” the bar codes on each ticket and their screens flash a message to you that says, “WINNER! FILE CLAIM FORM” or “SORRY NOT A WINNER” or other messages.

The Arkansas Lottery Commission is happy to confirm that these machines have been doing their job with no issues since the first tickets were sold on September 29, 2009.

It was reported today by various media that a Lottery scanner in Beebe had not functioned properly for a $1 Million winning ticket, according to one witness in a Searcy civil trial. In response to that testimony, the Lottery wants to assure our players and all Arkansans that in that case—and in quality-assurance testing conducted regularly and thoroughly—our ticket scanners have passed the test.

Here are the facts on the Beebe ticket:

Players at that Beebe retailer scanned tickets at that location numerous times on the day the $1 Million ticket was sold, and each time the scanner worked perfectly.

The ticket in question was scanned at the original retailer and at several other scanners in various locations, and each time it scanned properly.

In short, the Arkansas Lottery’s ticket scanners are performing like clockwork.