Counties prepare to meet HAVA mandates

By MEGAN FEDDERSEN and CHRISTINE RUPP

Fairmont Sentinel Staff Writers   04 August 2005

FAIRMONT If you are handicapped and have difficulty voting come election time, the Help America Vote Act could mean good news. However, for precincts and counties, it could mean extra expense and work.

That is because under HAVA, every precinct is required to purchase, store and maintain assisted voting technology.

"What about the precincts that don't have anybody? Well, it's federal legislation," said Faribault County Auditor John Thompson.

The machines the state is considering cost about $5,500 and are equipped with a touch screen, headphones and Braille to help people with various handicaps vote, said Jim Forshee, Martin County auditor/treasurer.

The machine, which looks almost like a suitcase, can also be brought out to a vehicle by an election judge if a voter is not able to enter the polling place, Forshee said.

The technology needs to be in place for the 2006 general election.

The mandate, however, does come with federal funding. The state of Minnesota received about $29 million to implement the HAVA requirements, and each precinct will receive approximately $7,059, said Forshee.

For Martin County, which has 37 precincts, that means a grant in the amount of $261,197, while Faribault County will receive $232,960 to be divided amongst 33 precincts. Jackson County will receive $183,000 for 30 precincts.

The federal government also has approved another $6 million for precinct counters, which will be available on a first-come, first-served basis, Forshee said. While precinct counters are not yet mandated and precincts are only required to purchase the assisted voting technology, he foresees the counters being required in the future.

"I think more federal mandates will be coming down the road," he said.

In each county throughout the state, auditors will be meeting this month with election officials from each precinct, township and school district.

The Martin County meeting will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 29 in the basement of the Martin County Library in Fairmont. Faribault County's meeting will be Aug. 5.

Judy Sinn, deputy auditor/treasurer, said she hopes some precincts will agree to combine polling places.

"You can get up to four precincts on a machine," she said.

"We're hoping some of the smaller precincts and townships will combine ... I'm not sure how many polling places we'll end up with," said Liz Boettcher, chief deputy auditor for Faribault County.

Combining will not only decrease the number of polling places, but it will also save municipalities money. The grant money is based on the number of precincts in a county, not on the number of polling places, Sinn said.

Therefore, if two or more precincts were to combine, they would still get $7,059 each for the HAVA grant, but they would only have to purchase one assisted voting machine, decreasing the overall cost to each precinct.

However, convincing precincts to combine may not be so simple. While all eight of Fairmont's precincts share one polling place, Forshee said many townships like to vote at their own hall. There is even one town where the township votes in one building and the school board votes in a building just down the block, he said.

All he can do, he said, is point out the benefits to sharing a polling place.

"In no way are we going to force people to join," Forshee said.

Precincts sharing a polling place could enjoy another benefit besides saving money: precinct counters.

While Boettcher said the county's election judges have done an excellent job throughout the years, the precinct counters reduce the chance of votes being disqualified because of incorrectly filed ballots. If a voter makes a mistake with an automated machine, the machine will kick out the ballot to give the voter a second chance to correctly fill in their choices.

"For the voters, it definitely is a good thing," said Boettcher.

Faribault County already has 12 precinct counters, putting its voters at an advantage with the new technology and ballot format. Thompson said he will push for commissioners to approve as many precinct counters as the county can afford.

With Faribault County's current system, results have been in well before midnight, and further s will only improve the speed and accuracy of counting votes on election nights, said Boettcher.

Forshee also said he would like to get more precinct counters in the county, but he cannot justify purchasing a counter for a precinct with just 45 voters. If precincts were to combine, however, he said it would be more feasible to invest in more counters.

"We're going to try to utilize the grant money that's coming as best as we can," Forshee said.

Jackson County is not as keen to to precinct counters as Faribault and Martin counties. Given the choice, the county will purchase a new central counter, or optical scan machine, for the courthouse rather than buying precinct counters.

"A few years ago, we polled the townships and cities. Grant money was available at that time for precinct counters. They didn't want them though," said Jackson County Auditor Ben Pribyl.

To implement the HAVA requirements, each county has to have a plan, Forshee said.

Forshee and his staff have developed a preliminary plan for implementing HAVA. The plan basically states that the county will be responsible for storing, insuring, programming and maintaining the assisted voting technology machines. The municipalities will be responsible for the cost of training local election officials.

While the grant funds last, a $600 per year operational allotment will be paid for each county's precincts, and municipalities will be responsible for reimbursing the county for any additional expenses.

Once the grant funds are depleted, the municipalities will reimburse the county for all operational costs.