Feds mandate election changes 08-08-2004

RICHARD ORR

Herald Correspondent , From The Plainview Daily Herald
08/07/2004

The county has another federal mandate to deal with. Yet unlike most of them, this one will be funded by the government - at least partially so.

“We´re mandated to have it in place by Jan. 1, 2006,” said County Clerk Diane Williams. “But we hope to have it up and running by for the November 2005 constitutional-amendment election so we can introduce it to the public on a relatively easy election, compared to candidate elections.”

The “it” is a requirement that Texas and the other 49 states have a set number of Spanish-speaking election workers at all polling places and use special electronic voting machines. The mandate stems from the 2000 presidential election fiasco in Florida.

In Hale County´s case, Mrs. Williams said she will ask commissioners Monday to approve the purchase of 19 machines - including one backup and another for use in the early-voting process - at an estimated cost of $120,000. However, as much as $94,500 in federal grants may be available to help pay for them.

“Also, we may be able to lease the equipment to the city and school system, which hold their elections on different days from us,” she noted.

The old paper ballots will be available at first to phase in the new process, with at least one machine at each of the county´s 17 polling places.

“Once we have the machines,” she said, “I plan to demonstrate them with hands-on training at civic and service organizations. And there´ll be opportunities for public training as well.”

Despite recent publicity, Mrs. Williams noted that the machines will indeed “have a paper trail to follow in case of contested ballots.”

There are two basic types of ADA-approved machines: touch-screen and a “-wheel” version where voters choose their candidate and press “enter.”

“We haven´t decided which type to use,” she said. “Either way, voters will have access to the ballot before voting.”

Despite the fact that the majority of Hispanics read, speak and write English, the mandate calls for hiring bi-lingual election workers based on the number of registered Hispanic-surnamed voters in the county - 39 such workers in Hale County´s case - at a current pay rate of $6 an hour.

“That will be hard to fill,” said Mrs. Williams. “To my knowledge, we´ve not had a problem with people not understanding the ballot or the procedures. And we´ve made every effort in the past to have Spanish-speaking election workers at each polling place.”

Anyone wishing to be an election worker - bilingual or not - is asked to call the clerk´s office at 291-5261.

“They´ll receive a training session during the early-voting period,” she noted. “We need election workers for the November presidential election.”