Kanawha to use
touch-screen voting machines

Matthew Thompson?? Charleston Daily Mail May 26, 2005

Kanawha County officials have decided to use touch-screen voting machines to replace the aging punch card system.

The new machines will be in place for the 2006 election cycle.

The county made the decision after deciding the other choice optical scan machines would be too expensive and time-consuming to install.

"With the touch-screen machines, the process will be much faster," said Kanawha County Clerk Vera McCormick. "We also wouldn't have to pay for the paper ballots and other machinery involved in the optical scan process.

McCormick said the paper ballots alone for the optical scan machines would cost between $120,000 and $150,000 per election. The touch-screen voting machines do not require external paper ballots.

The machines contain an internal paper system that displays votes, but each ballot is visible only to the voter casting it. As he or she finishes voting, it is advanced in the machine and a new, blank ballot appears. The roll of paper is later removed by election officials.

The votes on the touch-screen machines will be stored digitally on each device in the county's 183 precincts. At the end of election night, the votes will be downloaded to a central computer for counting.

One drawback to the machines is that counties choosing them will receive less funding from the Secretary of State's office.

In April, Secretary of State Betty Ireland told the Kanawha County Commission if it chose optical scan machines, the state would pay the total cost for the machines. Counties would have to bear the cost of the ballots for each election.

Ireland said she is planning to do this for every county to help them comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which requires states to replace punch card and lever voting machines by Jan. 1, 2006.

Ireland's office favors the optical scan machines because they provide a paper record of votes and could be bought for all 55 counties with the $19 million the federal government is supplying to the state through the Help America Vote Act.

However, Ben Beakes, Ireland's chief of staff, said the state would support any voting system counties choose, as long as they are compliant by 2006.

"We're not here to shove anything down their throats," Beakes said. "We're trying to help the counties be prepared for next year's election cycle."

Beakes said counties that decide to use touch-screen voting machines may request a loan of up to 50 percent toward the equipment's cost. The loan is interest free and must be paid back after five years.

And Beakes said if Kanawha County wants to save money on paper ballots, then touch screen machines are the way to go.

McCormick is in the process of comparing prices. According to information she has gathered so far, touch screen machines would cost the county $3.3 million over a 10-year period while optical scan machines would cost $4.5 million, when considering both the paper ballots needed for optical scan equipment and the cost of those machines.

Total price of the touch-screen machines and the available loan cost from the state haven't been discussed yet, said Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper. A meeting is scheduled today with county officials and the Secretary of State's Office.

"We need to know what decision will be made by the state and how they will help us out," Carper said.

The commission still has to vote on the issue.

"I plan to recommend we set up a time frame of how we are going to go about getting the machines," Carper said. "This is a monster topic, and we need to make a decision as soon as possible."