County expecting $539,000 grant to upgrade voting machines

By PATRINA A. BOSTIC

Longview News-Journal
Friday, March 04, 2005

Gregg County is expected to receive a $539,000 grant to its voting machines and has appointed a committee to evaluate new machines that must comply with new federal regulations. The county already has received $184,000.

County officials say that ideally, the grant should pay for the new equipment, but they won't know for sure until they determine how much each of the new voting machines will cost.

The federal grant is part of the 2002 Help America Vote Act that will enable states to follow a uniform voting standard. New and upgraded machines must be in place by Jan. 1 and accessible to people with disabilities, including paraplegics and voters who are visually impaired.

Each polling location in the country is required by federal law to have a Direct Record Electronic system. The machines allow illiterate voters or people with visual impairments to put on headphones and hear ballot ions.

Voting machines must also provide alternative languages, particularly Spanish for this area. But that's just part of what the act requires, officials say.

Across the state, some voting machines are old and must be d to meet new federal requirements. Some counties still use punch cards or the old lever machines.

Gregg county's polling machines scan ballots, but they still must be upgraded to comply with the new uniform standard.

The Gregg Elections Commission this week appointed a committee of three people to assist new interim elections administrator Kathryn Nealy with acquiring the machines.

Committee member Cathy Cerliano, business manager for the juvenile probation department, said the committee will survey vendors on the different types of machines available and their cost. Then the information will be presented to the county's purchasing department.

Cerliano said the committee soon will arrange for vendors to come to the county and demonstrate their products. She said it's too soon to know what the machines will cost and how many the county must purchase.

Judge Bill Stoudt said new machines come in a wide variety. "(They have) all different bells and whistles to them," he said. But getting machines in place that comply with the new law is the county's focus. "I was very eager to get moving on it," he said. "We've got to get this completed."