Hernando: Other counties not sold on Diebold 
Posted by: will on Friday, July 29, 2005 

Rino Dolbi    DeSoto Times  

 
HERNANDO ? At least two other Mississippi counties who opted to not purchase Diebold voting machines say they are happy with their decision, even though that decision may cost them.
And at least one group says their is reason for concerns about the accuracy of the machines which are being touted by Secretary of State Eric Clark.

Ellen Theisen, executive director of votersunite.org, an election watchdog group, said the organization documented a number of problems with the Diebold machine in the 2004 election in Maryland, Florida, California and other states.
?We found an enormous number of problems in the 2004 election,? she said. ?And it has limited accessibility for the disabled.?
One provision of HAVA is that each voting precinct must be accessible to the handicapped and must have at least one voting machine that is usable to the blind and handicapped.
DeSoto County at present does not have any machines that qualify but local officials said they could use the touch screen machine adapted for the blind and still use the optical scan units for regular voters.
Circuit Court Clerk Dale Kelly Thompson, supervisors and election commissioners have said they have concerns about the accuracy of the touch screen system and the fact that it has not paper back up system. DeSoto County purchased an optical scan system in 2002 which reads a paper ballot. The county spent $270,000 for the system in anticipation that the cost would be reimbursed by the federal government.
Seven or eight other counties in Mississippi face a similar situation. They have new optical scan systems and are reluctant to switch to a touch screen.
Clark has said counties will have until Aug. 15 to accept the new machines or opt out of the HAVA program. Whether counties would then receive any federal funding to comply with HAVA is uncertain.
Gayle Parker, Circuit Court Clerk in Harrison County on the Gulf Coast, said her county purchased its optical scan units in 1999 and was told recently by a member of Clark?s staff that they would not receive any money for their machines.
The south Mississippi county has 67 precincts and about 90,000 voters.
?We looked at touch screens when we were evaluating systems,? she said. ?We felt they were too expensive and they didn?t have a paper ballot back up.?
Joe Martin, Circuit Clerk for Jackson County on the coast, said his county has used the ES&S optical scan unit since 2001 and are quite happy with it.
?We?ve had no problems with it and their support staff does a tremendous job for us,? he said.
Martin says the optical scan units meet federal standards and he thinks Clark is wrong to insist on every county using touch screens.
?We are totally satisfied with what we have,? he said. ?My philosophy is, if it ain?t broke, don?t fix it.?
Martin said Clark should not withhold federal money if counties can be in compliance with HAVA with a different voting machine.
?Each county should be able to have the opportunity to the system they want,? he said. ?They should not be penalized.?
Both Parker and Martin said the clash could eventually wind up in federal court if Clark refuses to accept the optical scan units.?It?s possible it could wind up in court,? said Martin. ?All we are asking is that we be treated fairly. Right now it?s a mess.?
Clark has been visiting counties recently to promote his plan and says much of the information about problems with the touch screen, sold by Diebold Corp., is inaccurate.
Clark said the evidence of past elections shows the touch screen system purchased by Mississippi is ?the most accurate and secure voting machines made anywhere.?
As far as back up features are concerned, he said the Diebold TSX touch screen machine has a printer that produces a paper record of the votes cast for each candidate and, in addition, every machine stores an image of every ballot cast so that paper copies of every ballot can be produced at the Courthouse.
Clark said he also plans to buy printers to produce a ?voter-verified paper trail? if Congress fully funds the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in the next federal budget.
The 5,164 Diebold machines purchased by the state were paid for with $15 million in HAVA funds.
Thompson said she and election commissioners did a lot of research on various types of voting machines before ing the ES&S optical scan unit as the best nearly two years ago. She said there is a lot of evidence that the touch screen machines are subject to various malfunctions.
The Board of Supervisors and other county officials will meet with Clark Monday to discuss the new touch screen voting machine the state has purchased.
Vanessa Lynchard, director of administrative services, said Clark sent a letter to the board asking that the Supervisors, Chancery and Circuit Court clerks, election commissioners and the county administrator be at the board meeting at 10 a.m. to inspect the machine and ask questions.
The board meets at the county Administration building in Hernando beginning at 9.