Democrats urge optical-scan voting machines
Counties must change systems
By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal     19 August 2005

RED HOOK ? Voters in Dutchess County will have to bring a No. 2 pencil to the polls, beginning with the 2006 election, if a group of local Democrats has its way.

The Democrats, including two current county legislators and two legislative hopefuls, called Thursday for Dutchess to replace its antiquated mechanical voting machines with an optical-scan system. Under such a system, paper ballots ? similar to the forms used to lottery numbers ? are filled out and electronically scanned by a machine to count the votes.

All New York counties will have to decide what type of machines they will purchase to replace the existing machines, to comply with federal legislation approved in the wake of the 2000 election fiasco in Florida.

While there has been much talk of electronic voting machines ? including touch-screen computers similar to bank ATMs ? no new machines have been certified for use in New York, state officials said.

The local candidates said using paper ballots with optical-scan machines is the best way to ensure all votes are counted.

"It's reliable," said Vicky Perry, the Democratic candidate for county Legislature in District 11, which covers the Town of Red Hook. "It's easy to use; it's just like a lottery ticket."

The state passed earlier this year on deciding on the type of new machines and left the decision up to local elections commissioners. County officials can't begin ing machines until the state certifies machines for use, which won't be done until the end of the year, a state Board of Elections spokesman said.

If local elections commissioners ? a Democrat and a Republican ? can't agree on what to use, state elections officials will choose for them.

Resolution held back

Legislator William McCabe, D-Union Vale, has drafted a resolution calling for local elections officials to adopt the optical-scan system. The measure was held off next month's agenda by legislative leaders, who said the decision is supposed to be up to the elections commissioners.

Dutchess Republican Elections Commissioner David Gamache said he prefers the so-called Direct Recording Electronic machines, or DRE, some of which look quite similar to the machines voters in New York currently use. But instead of pulling a lever, they push a button or touch the candidate's name on the ballot to record their ion.

"The optical scan would be an absolute disaster on Election Day," Gamache said, explaining it would take longer to vote, causing long waits at the polls. "Lines discourage people from voting."