County to buy audio system that enables blind to vote

BY BARBARA S. MILLER, Observer-Reporter   27 January 2005 

Blind voters in Washington County must have special voting machines that will provide them with a sound system under the Help America Vote Act, and the county commissioners approved a resolution to pay for a system with a $1.7 million grant.

Larry Spahr, county elections director, informed the commissioners of a plan Thursday to comply with the act.

Larry Maggi, co-chairman of the board of commissioners, and Commissioner Diana L. Irey approved the plan. Bracken Burns, co-chairman, was absent from the meeting because of a board meeting of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, of which he is president.

"Right now, we should be able to stay with the current system," Maggi said. Irey noted that it would cost Washington County about $8 million to switch to a high-tech system, but the county could receive no more than a $1.7 million grant, which is derived from state tax money.

"Punch-card counties are not being mandated to change," Spahr said. "The system meets all seven standards except for accessibility to the visually impaired."

Washington County voters are among 11 counties in Pennsylvania that use cards punched with a stylus in the voting booth.

Lacking an audio system for blind voters is the only aspect of the Help America Vote Act of 2003 with which punch card voting does not comply.

If the county chooses to keep the punch card, it must provide audio units that will guide blind voters.

"No, I've never seen it," Spahr said of an audio system. "Technology is being developed."

The units would have to be certified for use in elections.

Spahr estimated the cost of audio units at $4,000 apiece, which would be covered by the grant, as would an education and training program.

The county would have to purchase one for each of the 184 precincts, even when precincts share a location.

Despite the public perception that grew out of people squinting at chads in Florida in 2000 presidential election, punch cards meet the basic federal standards, except for the audio component.

Spahr said the punch cards provide a paper audit trail, which is lacking in many touch-screen systems purchased before the 2003 Help America Vote Act.

The issue also came up at the commissioners' agenda meeting Wednesday, and Burns said, "The punch card has worked fine in Washington County. Florida screwed up the national election. They happened to be using the punch card when they did it."