Touch-Screen Voting Machines Coming To Idaho

By Thanh Tan    KBCI News     29 June 2005

Boise -  The days of pregnant chads may be coming to an end.

Secretary of State Ben Ysursa says some newly certified voting machines combine high-tech innovation and better access for people with disabilities.

Boise resident and rehabilitation counselor Dana Ard has practiced her right to vote since college.

She's also been blind since birth.

"I've always had someone read the ballot to me. Either a friend or I've even had someone at the polling place, one of the precinct workers, or now my husband comes with me and he just reads the ballot and marks it," Ard said.

She says privacy has always been an issue, but hopes voting won't be such a challenge come Jan. 1, the date when the federal government mandates that every state incorporate at least one particular kind of voting device into every polling place.

"What we're talking about with these systems is better access for the disabled community to vote independently and privately," said Secretary of State Ben Ysursa.

Counties can choose between two systems, but Ysursa says most will use the Automark, which allows Americans with disabilities to mark their ballots using an optical scan voting system.

Visually impaired voters can hear their choices repeated back to them through headphones.

While these machines will be available for use, Ysursa says paper ballots will remain the main voting tool in Idaho and open to human error.

At the very least, he signaled these new machines are a sign of things to come, and voters like Dana Ard say,"I think it's great. I think it'll be super. You know who you're voting for. It's verified. You don't have to let anybody else know your business."

Ysursa says he expects these touch-screen machines to be in place by January for federal elections, but says voters may see them as early as November, during city elections.