Current Balloting System To Stay
County Voters Will Continue with Paper Ballots
By Dan Craft  The Morning News   20 May 2005

FAYETTEVILLE Washington County ballots will still be cast on paper and counted at a central location, election officials decided Thursday.

County election commissioners voted unanimously to retain the optical-scan ballot counters that tabulate votes at the county courthouse on election nights.

The decision was prompted by a requirement to implement the federal Help America Vote Act.

"We've gotten used to what we do, and we're good at doing it that way," said Tom Lundstrom, an election commissioner. "I'd put our ability to count ballots up against anybody."

 
One change involves placing one electronic touchscreen-type voting machine in each polling place. The machines are intended to help disabled or language-impaired voters, but can be used by anyone, said Rob Hammons, election coordinator for the Arkansas Secretary of State's office.

The county must also implement a voter education program to comply with the act. No federal guidelines have been established for voter education, but are expected soon, Hammons said.

The county had three choices for voting systems. The paper ballot, central-count system was one. The other options were using only touchscreen electronic machines, or using smaller optical scanners that would read and record a ballot at the polling place.

"There are a lot of systems out there that have possibilities, but what we have is reliable," said Pete Loris, a commissioner. "The present system, I can't see anything we could improve except the speed, and that's not important compared to accuracy."
The act funds may allow the county to purchase additional counting machines, which would allow faster counting, said John Logan Burrow, commission chairman.

The central counting system gets points for public accessibility and simplicity, said County Judge Jerry Hunton.

"Even the best machines fail sometimes, so the simpler we can keep it, the better," Hunton said. "The way we operate, the public can come in and see the whole process."

Voter education should be simple given the basic nature of the system, Lundstrom said.

"You can't idiot-proof everything, but this isn't hard to grasp," Lundstrom said. "We'll do whatever we can, but you can't educate a person not to be stupid."

Some Arkansas counties still use voting systems that will be disallowed under the act, Hammons said.

"There are places that use lever machines and punchcards, which aren't going to work," Hammons said. "There are still nine counties in the state that count ballots by hand."

The act funds will be distributed by the Secretary of State's office later this year, Hammons said. Washington County should have enough funding left over after purchasing the required touchscreen machines to buy additional optical-scan counters, he said.

"The thing about HAVA money is that it's a one-time deal from the federal government," Hammons said. "It's not something that will be handed out every year."