NOVEMBER ELECTION County agrees to lease vote machines for $310K

Lucas County commissioners gave final approval yesterday to leasing 386 optical-scan voting machines for use in the November general election and perhaps through next year.

The commissioners OK'd the $310,000 lease with Diebold Election Systems, which includes a provision to extend the contract at the same price through December, 2005, if necessary.

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak, a Democrat, questioned whether it would be cheaper for taxpayers to buy the voting machines rather than rent them. Bernadette Noe, who is chairman of both the county elections board and Lucas County Republican Party, said buying the equipment at this point simply would not be in the county's best interest.

"When we purchase, we will be purchasing touch-screen technology. That's the decision of the secretary of state," Ms. Noe said.

Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell recently broke a tie vote among county elections board members when he decided that the county would purchase the newer touch-screen technology instead of optical-scan voting machines. Because of state law that requires a paper trail for each election, the county cannot yet purchase the touch-screen machines.

To date, only prototypes exist of touch-screen voting machines that also have a paper trail, Ms. Noe said.

Paula Hicks-Henderson, director of the county elections office, said she hopes to have the leased machines in the county by the end of August so employees can begin programming them. She also assured the commissioners that her staff will be on hand during the election to help those with disabilities as the machines are not easily accessible.

Though confident that the county will be ready for a large voter turnout in November because of the presidential election, Ms. Noe warned residents that lines are inevitable.

"I want people to understand that there will be lines. Don't expect to be able to run in and out on election day," she said.

During a meeting of the county elections board, members discussed a report released Friday by Mr. Blackwell's office that criticized the board for being overtly politicized. Ms. Hicks-Henderson reported that her office is working on creating a manual to better train workers.

She also suggested distributing board packets to members prior to meetings so they have more time to review information before acting. "I think it's important that we get a complete picture of what's going on," she said of the state report.