New systems appear to get OK from voters

By Kerry James Evans     Springfield NEWS-LEADER     04 August 2005

Voters in Elkland and Walnut Grove moved a few steps into the future Tuesday with new technology at the voting booth.

For special elections in the two towns, Greene and Webster counties offered new machinery in place of the usual punch card and their opportunities for hanging chads.

Both changes are in response to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 ? "an act to replace punch-card voting systems," according to the Federal Election Commission.

In Elkland, voters said they were pleased with the Populex electronic voting system, a touch-screen system that Webster County tried out for the first time.

Martha Vich, 66, of Elkland said, "It's easy to use and there's no hassle."

Lionel Bridges, 63 of Fair Grove was a little less enthused but felt satisfied. "It works," he said.

According to information from Populex, "In the voting booth, voters make choices on a computer screen and then print out a paper ballot, which can be electronically counted or read by the voter. Using secure bar code technology, the ballot is counted and kept for audit or recount purposes."

The new electronic voting system is also convenient for voters with disabilities, offering the assistance of headphones, a keypad, and wheelchair accessibility, the company said

Ardene Gaeke, 69 of Elkland, is a poll judge who was taught how to use the electronic voting system. She claimed to be "computer illiterate," but when she was trained, she found it the "easiest thing to follow."

Gaeke also commented on liking the paper trail idea. "It's a checkpoint, and it gives me a feeling of confidence."

In Walnut Grove, voters' ballots were not electronic, but were still easier to use. Voters were required to fill in a line with an arrow pointing to the vote. Once the space was filled, voters slipped the ballot into the electronic ballot counter.

Voters Joyce and Ward O'Quinn of Walnut Grove said they thought the new ballots were simple to understand.

And "there weren't any hanging chads," Ward O'Quinn said, referring to the sometimes incompletely punched tags of paper that can stick to punch-card ballots.

The poll judges in Walnut Grove said they found the new ballots much easier to use as well. Sally Cribbs, 64, of Walnut Grove noted that "there's not as much paperwork as with punch cards."

Patty Hawk, 55, of Walnut Grove said she could tell everyone seemed to like the new system.

Both voting systems are part of an initiative to improve accuracy and accessibility of votes.

For Webster County Clerk Stan Whitehurst, certification of these machines is important, and the best way to fulfill the federal mandate is by experimenting with them in elections.

In Tuesday's election, Populex provided Webster County with the test machines as a demonstration. If they are eventually chosen from an assortment of systems for purchase, the machines would cost about $3,000 each, Whitehurst said.