Carteret officially severs tie to Unilect
July 30,2005
JANNETTE PIPPIN
Jacksonville DAILY NEWS

BEAUFORT - The sides squared off Friday over Carteret County's voting-machine mess, and in the end elections officials reaffirmed their decision to abandon equipment blamed for losing nearly 4,500 votes last November.

With approval from two of its three members, the elections board decided to quit using the Patriot Electronic Voting System it purchased nearly 10 years ago from the California-based UniLect Corp. The system has been in question since the November election when 4,438 Carteret votes were permanently lost after a mishap over the storage capacity of a control unit used during early voting.

"The motion carries, and UniLect will never be used again in Carteret County," Board of Elections Chairman Ed Pond said after fellow board member Harry Rivers seconded and approved his motion.

The action would be a first step in restoring public confidence in the voting process, Pond said.

For some in the room, the decision not to use the UniLect machines was good news. John and Anne Clarke of Pine Knoll Shores were among the early voters whose ballots were lost. They said they wouldn't feel comfortable voting with the same machines again.

"I completely support the decision," Anne Clarke said, holding a sign that read "My right to my vote."

"There were too many problems with these machines," her husband added.

Opponents of the decision to the UniLect system said it was a human programming error - not the machines - that caused the lost votes.

"It's a terrible waste of money. Nothing is wrong with the machines. Something is wrong with the Board of Elections," said Beaufort resident Bill Griffith as he waited for the Friday meeting to start.

Jacque Lynn of Pine Knoll Shores has experienced the various voting systems used in Carteret County over the years from the perspective of a voter and poll worker. She found the UniLect machines better than the rest.

"No machine was any better than this one has been," she said.

But a decision had been made, and Friday's meeting of the Carteret County Board of Elections was more of a formality.

The board made the decision at a July 12 meeting, but the Friday meeting was called to reaffirm it after questions arose about proper public notice.

Pond read through the several motions made July 12 so the board could repeat its votes. Each one was voted on without discussion until Pond's motion on dumping the UniLect equipment came up.

Sue Verdon, the one Republican on the elections board, cast an opposing vote Friday, prompting Pond to ask whether she was reversing her previous decision.

"No sir, I'm not," she replied.

Verdon said she did not vote on the motion during the July 12 meeting, which was the board's first since December, because she had no idea the issue was going to come up.

Referring to the typed minutes of the July 12 meeting, Pond said Verdon had double-seconded the motion he made at the first meeting and voted for it.

Despite the dispute, Verdon made it clear Friday that she is against the action.

"I was opposed to it then, and I'm still opposed to it," she said.

Verdon said the problems in the fall election were due to a human programming error and she does not believe the machines should be abandoned before the county knows more about the voting equipment guidelines being developed at the state and federal level.

"I can't see us doing away with equipment that has worked perfectly well until we know the guidelines," she said after the meeting.

With the decision not to use UniLect equipment now certain, the Board of Elections must decide on an alternative voting method to use in November's municipal elections. That decision is expected next month.

Three alternatives have been identified: either the use of traditional paper ballots or the leasing of either optical-scan or direct-recording electronic equipment similar to the touch-screen machines now used.

State Rep. Jean Preston, R-Carteret, who served on a study committee that made recommendations to the General Assembly about voting matters, was among those who attended the Friday meeting.

"I thought it would be interesting to hear the board's decision and get a feel for how the community felt about the decision," she said.