Panel urges touch-screens' certification
Lucas may get machines next year

By FRITZ WENZEL
BLADE POLITICAL WRITER

COLUMBUS - A panel that advises Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell on the viability of new voting equipment recommended yesterday that Mr. Blackwell certify Diebold Election Systems Inc.'s newest version of touch-screen voting machine for use in Ohio.

The equipment will be purchased, perhaps next year, for use in Lucas County.

"I like it. I think it's a nice system," said Larry Loutzenhiser, a member of the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners and a supervisor at the Lucas County elections office. "It really addresses the issue of allowing visually impaired people to use the machines independently. The audio ballot is wonderful. It is very easy to navigate," he said.

Mr. Loutzenhiser said the new version of touch screens has improved security measures and weighs less than earlier versions, making them easier to maneuver.

The machines are programmed and managed using so-called "smart cards" that resemble credit cards and include data that can be transferred from machine to machine. Passwords on those cards have been expanded from four to up to nine digits, and passwords can now be reprogrammed for every election, said Robert Diekmann, a Diebold representative at yesterday's meeting here.

While elections' officials may change passwords for the cards for each election, they do not have to do so, he said.

"The thing you have to remember is, as an administrator of the election, now you've got another step to do" in preparing for an election, should you choose to change the password, Mr. Diekmann said. Diebold company representatives demonstrated to the board of voting machine examiners that the process takes just a few minutes.

Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Mr. Blackwell, said his boss should act on the board's recommendation in short order. The secretary never has gone against the recommendation of the committee, he said.

"I see no reason that the secretary will not take their recommendation this time, but every process is a little different," Mr. LoParo said.

Should the machine win certification, it will mark a key step forward for the touch-screen units. The only other barrier to deployment for the election is a pending review of its security system, which is expected to be finished by July 19.

Four Ohio counties are planning to use the Diebold touch-screen machines in the November election: Hardin, Mercer, Lorain, and Trumbull. Like Lucas, Hardin County is looking to replace antiquated lever voting machines. The others are retiring punch-card voting systems.

Because the four members of the Lucas County Board of Elections could not agree on whether to buy the touch-screen units for use this November using federal and state money, the county must now dip into its own coffers to pay what is expected to be more than $300,000 to lease optical-scan machines for November. Paper optical scan ballots will cost an additional $50,000 to $100,000, depending on how large the fall ballot is.