Voting machine on blink again

By Jesse Hirsch   Portage Daily Register   06 April 2005

Since Columbia County Clerk Jeanne Miller took office in 2003, there have been problems with the two ballot-counting machines at every election. It looked like this spring might be an exception - until Tuesday afternoon.
 
 
Last week, Miller held a public demonstration to show the machines were working adequately. Monday, they were given one last test run and there were no problems.

Then on the day of the elections, a technician came in for a routine "reader head" light replacement. After he was finished, the machine wouldn't function at all.

"Whatever the guy did to it, he couldn't fix it," Miller said.

After frantic telephone calls all over the state, Miller found there was no repairman in the state of Wisconsin who could fix the machine. The state Elections Board advised Miller Tuesday afternoon that she should revert to a hand count, rather than rely on the other voting machine, but she said she would risk it.

"If the other one breaks, we're gonna be in a pretty tough situation," she said.

In November's elections, one of the machines started feeding two-thirds of Cambria's ballots into the "out box," where illegible or problem ballots are supposed to go. The second machine had to be used for all 30,000 county ballots before the broken machine was fixed.

Many of the voting machine problems have stemmed from the reader heads, but there have been other issues, including broken bearings and belts that won't move the ballots.

The machines are around 15 years old, and were purchased for $55,000 each. They enable a central count, where all municipal clerks bring their ballots to the county offices after polls close.

Miller hopes this will be the last election the machines are used. She said the county has about $47,000 in a reserve fund to purchase new equipment.

Instead of buying new central count machines, Miller said, county officials are looking at ballot scanners for individual municipalities, at a cost of $5,000 each.

These machines count each vote as it comes in, rather than large stacks all at once. They allow voters to see right away if there is a problem or mistake with their ballot.

Miller said these machines rarely break down and they cost much less to service. They would also eliminate clerks having to drive all the way to Portage on election nights.

"They almost seem too good to be true," she said.

Miller said Portage officials have indicated they plan to get ballot scanners in time for the next election, but some smaller municipalities cannot afford the new equipment.

The county Executive Committee is now deciding whether to purchase machines for all the municipalities, then work out a schedule to be repaid over several years. Another option is to split the cost of the equipment between the county and the municipality.

But at this point, Miller said no purchasing decisions will be made until the state Election Board decides which tallying method it supports.

"We'd hate to buy a new central count machine, then have the state tell us central counts are out," she said.