Voting with new machines 'went wonderfully,' official says

By LEN WELLS Courier & Press correspondent (618) 842-2159 or rlwells@midwest.net
March 21, 2004

CARMI, Ill. - Voters in White County used an optical scan voting system for the first time in Tuesday's primary election, leaving behind the old punch card system.

Under a nationwide plan to avoid another ballot fiasco like the one experienced in Florida in the 2000 presidential election, counties have until 2006 to make the switch to an optical scan voting system. White County decided to get a jump on the process, and made the switch in time for the March 16 primary.

"It went wonderfully," said White County Clerk Paula Dozier. "Things went off like clockwork. With the new system, it took only three seconds to download and count an entire precinct." Dozier reports wrapping up the vote count in less than three hours after the polls closed at 7 p.m.

It cost $98,000 to make the conversion to an optical scan system in White County. The Illinois State Board of Elections picked up the tab on nearly $96,000 of the expense through the state's punch card buyout program.

The conversion was costly, and required Dozier to consolidate several polling places. Each optical scan voting machine costs $6,120, Dozier said, too expensive to install in each of the county's 30 precincts. Instead, Dozier cut the number of polling places in half and reported no major problems.

In Wayne County, Clerk Donna Endsley was very pleased with the new voting system. "It was fabulous," Endsley said. "We would have been done counting votes by 9 p.m., if not for delays in how the ballots were checked in at the courthouse."

Endsley said those issues will be fixed in time for the November presidential election.

It cost Wayne County about $89,000 for its optical scan system. The State Board of Elections reimbursed the county the entire expense.

Crawford and Perry counties in Southern Illinois also made the switch in time for the March 16 primary. Edwards County is still holding on to its punch card system for now.

It took until after 2 a.m. Wednesday morning for Saline County officials to count their punch card ballots. Officials in Harrisburg reported persistent machine problems, leading to long counting delays.