Counties Plan For Optical Scan Voting

By JOSELYN KING    Wheeling News-Register   04 April 2005

  Local counties in West Virginia report that they are making plans to implement new optical scan voting systems, but elections officials say they nevertheless will miss their punchcards and lever machines.
  The problem is if they don't get rid of the punchcards and levers now, the federal money to replace them won't be there if the systems break down two years from now. Most of the local systems are 20 to 30 years old.

West Virginia will receive $19 million through the act to its election machine and procedures.

  Secretary of State Betty Ireland earlier this month announced the state's plans to conform with provisions of the federal Help America Vote Act. These plans include purchasing one central optical scan counter for each of the state's 55 counties, and these devices each cost $45,000.

  The counties also have the option of purchasing additional smaller optical scan readers for use at each polling location, and half the cost of these devices would be covered through HAVA. The smaller machines have a price tag of about $5,000.

  "The Secretary of State has made our decision for us. We are going to optical scans," said Marshall County Clerk Jan Pest. She added that the county hasn't made any plans yet to purchase the additional systems. They are waiting to see what brand of central optical counting machine the state will by buying for them.

  "There is nothing wrong with punchcards," she said. "We're sorry Florida had such poor laws that now we're all suffering.

  "Essentially, we're now going back to using paper ballots."

  Pest isn't certain counties will be in compliance with HAVA if they don't purchase the additional scanners for each voting location. When the paper ballot is fed into them by the voter, the voter will be informed as to whether they've colored in too many blocks on their paper ballot - overvoted, or missed voting on a specific race - undervoted. This notification is one of the mandates of HAVA.

  She said Marshall County has 45 precincts that would each need a scanner.

  "We have always been interested in upgrading our punchcard voting system to a touchscreen system," said Ohio County Administrator Greg Stewart. "We became involved with the state's efforts, began listening and getting prepared to participate. Then a number of issues arose with touchscreens. We didn't want to invest $700,000 and the state would later change its mind about them."

  The touchscreen machines did not produce a paper trail, and this has led some states to balk against using them. 

  "We haven't had a whole lot of trouble with punch cards, but now we're looking at optical imaging," Stewart explained. "If the state chooses to go that way, we will move in that direction."

  Ohio County would use the smaller scan machines at each of its 38 voting precincts.

  Brooke County Clerk Sylvia Benzo said officials there have yet to discuss whether they will purchase the additional scanners. There are 27 voting precincts in the county.

  "Our intention is to go to optical scan voting," she added. "If we don't go now, we will not be due any funding if we later need to change our machines."

  Brooke County has used punchcards for the last 20 years, "and they are still working fine," according to Benzo.

  "Even with optical scan, it is still the responsibility of the voter to connect the dot and color in the right circle," she explained.

  Hancock County Clerk Eleanor Straight said she wants the county commission's input before a decision is made about voting machines there.  "The Secretary of State has approved the optical scan, and we will get the funding," Straight explained.

"The question is whether we want all optical scan, or if the commission wants to go with the touchscreen."

  The county is one of only three in the state that uses lever machines, and residents there have voted on them since the 1970s. "We love them," Straight said of the lever machines. "We hate to see them go."

  There are 28 voting precincts in Hancock County.

  Voters in Tyler County are the only local residents who already cast ballots on optical scan machines. Under the terms set forth by HAVA, the county could use the federal money to upgrade to touchscreens.

  Clerk Lora Thomas said the county has just 12 precincts, and doesn't utilize the additional scanners at each voting location.

  Wetzel County Clerk Carol Haught couldn't be reached for comment, but she previously said that county was looking to move toward optical scan voting.