Commissioners face voting machine woes
  By Chris Foreman    Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW     August 24, 2005

Four months before a deadline to meet federal election standards, Fayette County's commissioners believe state-administered grants won't even cover half of the cost to comply with the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, of 2002.

County officials said Tuesday they expect to receive less than $990,000 from the Department of State, but need about $2.2 million to order electronic voting machines for 105 precincts, train poll workers, educate voters about the machines, and install ramps at four polling places to comply with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

According to HAVA, which was passed in the aftermath of voting problems identified in Florida during the 2000 general election, counties must a voting machine by Jan. 1.

In particular, the process is vexing to officials, who say lever voting machines bought in 1976 probably could last another two decades. Commissioner Vincent Vicites said it's not cost-effective to replace reliable machines with the new technology.

"I really have a problem with discarding machines that have 20 years of life in them, but we're being mandated," Vicites said. "We have no choice."

Vicites said the county has taken advantage of available grants, but the money is not enough for what the county estimates it needs.

Election Bureau Director Laurie Nicholson, who also has concern about the available funding, is attending a conference this week and was unavailable for comment.

The Department of State has pledged to give counties $8,000 per precinct to pay for the voting machines, said Brian McDonald, deputy press secretary for the department. For Fayette, that translates to $840,000, although the county might be eligible for a maximum of $1.1 million for the equipment, he said.

McDonald said some counties might have to pay a portion of the cost for the machines, but department officials anticipate a "substantial" piece will be paid by grants.

All 67 counties also have submitted grant packages that outlined the costs for handicapped accessibility and poll training, he said.

Fayette's portion of the remaining grants was not immediately available.

How to pay for the new machines almost is secondary to the question of how long the county must wait until it can draw a contract for its chosen vendor.

As of yesterday, only one vendor, AccuPoll Inc., of Tustin, Calif., had been certified by the state to provide counties with the new technology. County election officials are interested in a machine offered by Sequoia Voting Systems, of Oakland, Calif., but the company is one of six awaiting a state decision about its viability.

Board Chairwoman Angela Zimmerlink noted that the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and the National Association of Counties have been pushing for a two-year delay of HAVA guidelines.

The Department of State will require that the machines be operational for the May 2006 primary, McDonald said.