Voter machine bids show costs double that of funds
Northampton County plans to use $1.5 million state grant for purchase.

By Paul Muschick   The Morning Call    27 June 2005

Price quotes for federally required electronic voting machines have come in at twice as much as Northampton County has available for them.

The county plans to use $1.1 million from a state grant to buy the equipment.

Three companies have submitted proposals to provide machines, each quoting prices of $2 million or more.

The county may get a better price by buying machines through the state under contracts officials intend to sign with manufacturers, Pennsylvania Department of State spokesman Brian McDonald said.

Northampton County Executive Glenn Reibman said officials will review the proposals received and if they opt to buy machines that way, will budget extra money next year.

''We knew from the preliminary figure that there would be a gap,'' he said.

Officials in other counties, including Lehigh, say they also expect machines to cost more than state grants they are scheduled to receive.

Many counties must buy new machines to comply with a voting law passed by Congress after the 2000 presidential election, which was contested because of challenges over Florida ballots.

The law requires the modernization of voting equipment and procedures, increased training for election workers and increased access for disabled voters.

For many counties, including Northampton and Lehigh, that means replacing lever-style machines. They are considered unreliable because they cannot provide a backup vote count. They also are not easy for disabled people to use.

Counties must have a contract for machines by Jan. 1 and must put them in place by next year's primary election.

Congress is providing $3.9 billion to help governments comply with the law. It is distributing the money through state governments.

The Pennsylvania Department of State gave $1.5 million to Northampton County.

According to the county's voting plan, it would spend $1.1 million on machines. County officials estimate they will need about 420 of them, according to the grant agreement.

Advanced Voting Solutions of Frisco, Texas, submitted a proposal to provide machines for $2 million. Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., submitted a $2.1 million proposal. Global Diebold Election Systems of McKinney, Texas, submitted a proposal of $2.6 million.

To help counties buy machines, the state will negotiate a contract that counties can use.

The state intends to negotiate a price that would be covered by its grants, which provide up to $8,000 for each county polling place.

''We can really control the pricing with it,'' McDonald said. ''We would certainly encourage them to use this format that we have put in place, but there's nothing to say that they have to.''

Northampton County has the option of rejecting the proposals received and buying machines through the state contract if that is cheaper.

''We can do either or,'' said Linda Arcury, chief registrar.

Reibman said the requirement for new machines is another example of federal and state officials writing laws but not providing enough money for local governments to follow them, which he says has contributed to recent property tax increases in Northampton County.

''This is an example of a mandate that is not funded,'' he said.

All Pennsylvania counties are eligible for an elections grant. Northampton is not the only one where the grant may not cover the cost of new machines.

Lehigh County is scheduled to receive about $1.1 million for machines, said Betty Hillwig, director of elections and voter registration.

She said officials expect the machines will cost more. They have not requested proposals from machine makers and intend to wait for the state to work on contracts.

Last week Westmoreland County accepted a grant of nearly $1 million, which officials say is enough to buy only about half of the machines it needs.