Ballot counting could change

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News
August 3, 2005

BOULDER - The county that was nearly last in Colorado to report 2004 election results could be among the first in 2006, a new election coordinator said Tuesday.

Joshua Liss, who was hired following the 2004 debacle, said the county clerk's office is considering machines at each precinct that would tally ballots as voters feed them in throughout the day. When the polls close, the machines would go to the county clerk's office, where results would be added to the county tally, Liss said.  
"As soon as the doors close, they (poll workers) can start packing things up and sending them down to us (at the clerk's office)," Liss said.

Results would be available by early the next morning, or even sooner, with frequent s to the public as the count progressed, he said.

That would be a lot quicker than the 70 hours it took Boulder to count the 2004 votes. Results weren't available until late Friday after the Tuesday vote.

Many complaints concerned the lack of s while the tally progressed.

County clerk Linda Salas and a subsequent county study blamed the problem primarily on faulty ballots. The ballots, printed by a subcontractor, could not be read by the county's scanners.

Liss' remarks Tuesday came during and after a public meeting with the county commissioners. Liss told commissioners the clerk's office will begin seeking proposals from election hardware and software firms for precinct scanners by November.

Salas, who is ill, did not address the commissioners.

Commissioners offered little comment on Liss' presentation, except to say they will be following the issue closely.

Boulder in 2004 used a system purchased from Hart Intercivic of Austin, Texas. The system uses paper ballots, but counts them electronically.

The county chose Hart amid concerns from citizens who fear that electronic ballot-counting machines could be inaccurate or intentionally programmed to favor a candidate.

That group never liked the Hart system, although it creates a paper trail.

Joe Pezzillo, who led the fight for paper ballots, told the commissioners Tuesday that all of the problems "result from (Salas') incredibly poor decision to purchase untested, unreliable and completely untrustworthy election equipment."

Hart Intercivic Chairman David Hart said the equipment is not untrustworthy and the election results were accurate.

Pezzillo said later he is not impressed with the plan to place a scanner in each precinct. The small number of votes at each precinct could be counted by hand, he said.

Liss said the clerk's office envisions a system in which the voter feeds a paper ballot into the scanner and verifies the choices before it is counted.

Boulder is also considering replacing precincts with "voting centers," Liss said. A voter registered in the county could cast a ballot at any center, regardless of residence.

The 2005 election will be conducted by mail.