County narrows choice for new voting machines

JON GAMBRELL??? THE BELLINGHAM HERALD??? 01 May 2005

As Whatcom County prepares to replace its punch-card ballots with a vote-by-mail system for September's primary election, officials are weighing offers from two companies that make voting machines.

Both Sequoia Voting Systems Inc. and Hart InterCivic want to replace the county's punch card voting system with optical scan machines. Instead of poking out chads, Whatcom County voters would fill in a bubble on ballots mailed to their homes. Those with disabilities would be able to vote on touch-screen machines.

Pushed by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to eliminate its punch-card voting system, the county plans to use federal money to help pay for the new system.

"We have to decide which one we prefer," said Whatcom County Auditor Shirley Forslof. "No firm decisions have been made." Forslof declined to release any specific details on the cost or what equipment would be included in either of the two companies' proposals, saying it could affect contract negotiations. She said a decision would be announced some time in May.

Hart InterCivic and Sequoia are two of the four companies allowed to sell touch-screen vote devices and other equipment in the state.

Texas-based Hart InterCivic has sold voting systems to several Washington communities, including Yakima County.

After switching to Hart's eSlate system for last year's elections, Yakima County Auditor Corky Mattingly said they experienced no problems.

"It was exceptional," she said. "We did the first recount in 39 minutes - 56,000 ballots."

Sequoia Voting Systems' equipment is also in used in the state. Snohomish County switched to paperless touch-screen voting machines made by Sequoia in 2002. During last year's contested governor's race, the county received 25 reports of the machines' calibrations "being a little bit off," said Carolyn Diepenbrock, Snohomish County's election manager.

"On a touch screen, you push your choice of candidate on the screen," she said of the problem. "When an individual pushed for one candidate, the one below got the vote."

Diepenbrock said election staff closed off the machines and had technicians fix the problems during last year's election. She said Sequoia's customer service is excellent.

"In our business, it's just not the piece of equipment, it's the follow-up and follow-through attention for maintenance," Diepenbrock said. "They've always been there for us."

But Everett-based lawyer Paul Lehto has sued Snohomish County and Sequoia for allegedly "attempting to shield from public view and verification by which votes are records, counted and tabulated."

"Their attempt to keep the counting of votes in Snohomish County secret is totally unconstitutional," said Lehto, who hopes to void the county's contract with Sequoia. "Now they have no assurance on the number of votes actually counted."