County s election system

Detroit may reject new scanning equipment that promises speedier results and fewer spoiled ballots.

By Darren A. Nichols / The Detroit News    24 June 2005

Wayne County is upgrading its election equipment to reduce the number of spoiled ballots and provide fast results for its 1.5 million registered voters.

The new system, Election Systems & Software Model 100, is an optical scan system: Voters use markers to register their choices, and the ballots are then fed immediately through a counter. Results are available from each machine as soon as the polls close.

It's a big step for elections in Wayne County, which has long been criticized for reporting results hours later than neighboring counties.

"I'm excited about it because we now have the ability to deal in real-time elections. We're finally catching up with the 21st Century," said Wayne County Clerk Cathy M. Garrett.

"Every (municipal) clerk will have the ability to deal with real-time elections. I'm (also) excited about all of the safeguards the new system has. If a voter under votes or over votes, the system will reject the ballot and give the voter the chance" to fix mistakes and avoiding having his ballot thrown out.

Company spokeswoman Meghan McCormick said every community in Wayne County except Detroit is in the process of changing to the new system. McCormick said Detroit is to receive the equipment later this year.

Detroit City Clerk Jackie Currie did not return phone calls to The Detroit News on Thursday, but during the last election commission meeting, according to commissioner Maryann Mahaffey, she criticized the new voting system and said it was unreliable. Currie said she was considering rejecting the new system, said Mahaffey, who also is on the Detroit City Council.

The state ordered Michigan communities to have a new system ready for next year's elections. Previously, Wayne County communities had a patchwork of voting systems: paper ballots, punch cards, optical scanners, touch screens and lever-operated voting machines.

Livonia City Clerk Val Vandersloot said her voters won't see much of a difference with the new system. Livonia went to a similar system in 1995.

She likes that the new equipment comes with a battery backup so that if a precinct has power outage, it can still use machines. "The voters (in Livonia) will see almost no difference, but they are used to it unlike some (communities) that had punch cards or touch screens," Vandersloot said. "For us, we're going to like having the battery backup."