A new level of voting machine, minus the lever
Richmond voters set to get equipment that will use a touch-screen system

BY DAVID RESS
Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Mar 31, 2005

There's something about the "ca-chunk" when you pull the voting machine's red lever to the left to let those politicians know what you really think.
   

Alas, said Richmond General Registrar J. Kirk Showalter, about the only thing the new machines the city is getting won't do is make a satisfying noise to register your vote.

"I wish they'd go ta-da, or something," she said.

Richmond will be getting its new machines over the next few weeks, in time for voters to try them out in the June primary.

The machines are needed to meet new federal rules on voting equipment. The city opted for the same touch-screen system that Fairfax County and Roanoke now use, the WINvote machines made by Texas-based Advanced Voting Solutions.

Goochland, Powhatan and Caroline counties also use the machines, and Henrico County is buying them, as well. (There's one in the Richmond Registrar's Office on the ground floor of City Hall, which Showalter is happy to let voters try out.)

The new system costs $1.6 million, most of which comes from the federal government. The city's share is about $200,000.

The machines look like a stripped-down laptop computer.

People will vote by touching the screen. Their ion will flash red when they do. If they wish, they can change their vote.

Before their votes are registered, the machine displays a summary of how they voted, which they must verify.

When they do that, the machine then displays a large, roughly 1-inch-by-3-inch box that flashes bright red and yellow. That is what you have to touch to officially cast a ballot.

"It asks you twice if you're sure this is how you want to vote," Showalter said.

The machines can display ballots in three ways: a listing that's basically a computer-screen version of the current ballot; a zoom display, which enlarges the names to roughly half-inch high letters; and an audio ballot. (People who use audio ballots can vote by touching corners of the screen as directed by the recording.)

The machine can be lifted off its stand and placed in a voter's lap if he or she finds it tough to reach from a wheelchair.

"People who have not been able to vote unassisted before will be able to," Showalter said. "That's the big payoff to me."

It's one big reason why the federal government's Help America Vote Act says older systems, such as the city's lever machines, are no longer good enough and will no longer be legal.

Showalter said the machines also should be more accurate and more secure than the lever machines.

Ballots and counters are installed through a 2-inch-long plastic-and-metal plug-in that Showalter programs herself, using a laptop that is kept in a vault that only she and a deputy can open.

The laptop keeps a running record of who does what to the program, and the voting machines themselves also keep internal records of any program changes.

Voting results are tallied and stored on the machines' hard drives in a separate memory device. In addition, the computer records images of each ballot cast, which can be printed out for inspection.

Showalter said she believes she'll be able to report results faster and complete the official cross-checking of votes more quickly as well.

"And, of course," she said "There's no more 800-pound machines falling on public-works workers trying to get them to all the precincts in time."