Bredesen supports lotto’s decision to drop balls

Gov. Phil Bredesen backed today the Tennessee Lottery’s decision to switch to a computer-driven system for selecting winners.

Earlier this year, the Tennessee Education Lottery changed the method for selecting its winners on certain games, transitioning from a ping-pong ball system and going to a random number generator done on a computer.

The move has sparked criticism from some lottery players and a Republican leader in the state House.

Bredesen told reporters today that the costs of the ball system “had gone through the roof basically” and said he was comfortable with the lottery’s change.

“I think this is going to work just fine,” Bredesen said. “I’m sorry that they have had the glitches that they have had.

But, you know, ultimately what I’m trying to do is get the maximum amount of money in the scholarships possible and, you know, not overpaying for the process of picking numbers is one of the ways that you do that.”

After the lottery changed to the random number generator, a computer glitch prevented lottery players who had duplicate numbers on their tickets from being eligible to win for a period of 23 days.

The lottery’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Rebecca Hargrove, said earlier this week that as a result of having to renew television contracts, keeping the ping-pong ball system would cost nearly $5 million.

The previous television contract, Hargrove said, resulted in the lottery spending about $250,000 for television production costs.

House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower (R-Bristol) has said the $5 million is a “mere pittance” for restoring Tennesseans’ trust in the lottery and is advocating a return to the ball system.