Van gives voters a look at touch screen machines

By GENE ZALESKI    The Times and Democrat   24 April 2005

Hanging chads, pregnant chads, dimpled chads.

No chads is the rallying cry for Orangeburg County election officials as the county seeks to welcome the latest in touchscreen voting technology later this year.

Jameson resident Kenny Topps was just one of the many who took an opportunity to get a hands-on opportunity to try out the new electronic touch screen voting machines Saturday as the "Help Americans Vote" bus descended at the South Carolina Festival of Roses.

The bus's arrival was sponsored by the Orangeburg County Election Commission and the South Carolina Election Commission.

"It was a lot quicker and it seems to me to be more private," Topps said. "You felt more confident in what you are doing. If you are a little uncertain and if you decided you want to make a change, you don't have to worry about erasing or having to go get another ballot."

Topps said it is important to tap into technological advances.

"My concern about the whole nine yards is that we don't end up like we did a couple of years ago like in Florida," he said.

Voter Betty Hill said the directions on the machine were clear and straightforward.

"It was easy to vote on it," Hill said, noting that while it is a computer format those with little experience on computers should be able to utilize it well. "It does not exactly look like a computer. As long as you are reading the cues and prompts you should not have any problems."

Besides having an opportunity to receive a hands-on demonstration of how the new voting machines work, individuals had an opportunity to obtain free voting magnets, pens and flashlight keychains.

Genita Snipes, voting machine demonstrator, noted that crowds and utilization of the machines was steady though on the rather slow side late Saturday morning.

"People seem to be pretty pleased with it," Snipes said, noting the general consensus has been on the machine simplicity. "It is not complicated at all."

Demonstrator Kenya Bryant said individuals have described the machines as 'pretty cool' and 'pretty easy."

"They said they would rather have this than what they have been using," he said.

Bryant took this reporter through the touchscreen voting process.

The poll worker will activate the ballot and then the voter will touch the box on the screen to candidates. The touch screen prevents voters from voting for more than one candidate for a single office than is allowed. Write-in entries are typed in as on a computer keyboard.

Individuals can navigate, de candidates and review ions before officially submitting the vote by pressing the flashing red "Vote" button.

The system works similarly to an ATM machine.

The machines are also designed for the visually-impaired as well.

"It is another great effort to expose folks to the new voting system that will be used in South Carolina," said Earl Whalen, Orangeburg County's director of voter registration and elections. "It does not matter anymore with uniform system where you live. This will be system everybody will use so any exposure is good exposure."

The bus was located near the Orangeburg County Arts Center and open most of Saturday. The bus will also be on site Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Should you have missed the opportunity to participate in the voting demonstration, county elections officials can help to arrange demonstrations at local schools, churches or other community gathering spots.

Trinity United Methodist Church, the Orangeburg County Library and the Concerned Citizens of Whittaker Heights are among the groups that have requested demonstrations.

The county will be attending community events to help educate local voters about how to use the new machines.

Orangeburg County got the new machines in February.

The equipment cost about $1 million and was part of a federal government effort to modernize voting systems.

Orangeburg County residents will use the new electronic touch screen voting machines for the first time during the 2005 Orangeburg County Municipal and School Board Elections and again in 2006.

The local monies were just a portion of what the state was able to obtain for the new voting system.

South Carolina decided to switch to a uniform electronic system and received $47 million from the federal government to do so.

The state spent $30 million to buy the new voting machines.

The remaining federal money will be spent on voter education and outreach efforts.

South Carolina's system is a standalone system. The individual machines are not hooked up to the Internet or even a network.

The machines have triple-redundant memory, which is more than any other voting system in the state has ever had.

Voters do not receive a paper receipt listing their votes; however, the system has a recordable paper trail, which can be downloaded.