Utah County may upgrade voting equipment

DAILY HERALD   Amie Rose    30 August 2005

In 2006, Utah County residents could be casting their votes via ATM-like computers, an optical scan system, the same punchcard machines they've been using for years, or on the phone, depending on what county commissioners decide today.

Commissioners have been debating whether to go with the state's new chosen voting system direct-recording electronic machines

 made by Diebold and replace all the punchcard machines, go with another system, or only replace some of the machines to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act.

The act requires counties to have at least one voting machine per polling place that is accessible to people with disabilities. The HAVA-compliant machines must be in place by 2006.

Commissioners put out their own request for proposals on voting equipment in June, after the state made its decision. The federal government is providing money for the replacements, but only counties that follow the state's plan total replacement of the punchcard fleet with DREs are eligible.

At the commissioners meeting at 9 a.m. today, they will get a cost analysis of the different voting equipment they're considering and decide whether to sign the state's contract.

The county Elections Office has prepared an analysis of six different types of voting machines, including voting systems from Election Systems & Software, IVS LLC and the state's choice.

"I would like to get a decision made," said Sandy Hoffmann, county election coordinator. "It's getting scary for me."

The state's deadline for the county to sign or not sign its contract is Sept. 9.

Commissioner Jerry Grover said if he's got all the information in front of him this morning, he'll want to vote. He hadn't seen the cost analysis as of Monday afternoon, but said he'd been out of the office.

Hoffmann said she'd like to replace all the punchcard machines with the Diebold DREs.

"It's more beneficial for the county, and cost effective for the county," she said. "I think the future is early voting. With the technology, we could have all different types of voting. I'm hoping that's the way they'll go."

Grover said there are some downsides to the state's plan. First, it ties the county to using the Diebold machines until 2008, even if they fail before then.

"I don't like to tie myself into anything," he said. "We want to be able to get out of the system if something goes bad."

California has reported problems with the Diebold machines, The Associated Press reported. Last month, there were so many screen freezes and paper jams in a test that California election officials ruled them a failure.

The other problem is that the state won't buy new machines when counties grow, Grover said. So if the county has to add voting precincts next year because of growth, the county will have to shoulder the entire costs of machines for the new voters.

Last year there were about 20,000 new registered voters in Utah County.

"I guess it's just going to be exciting for all of us to see what happens," Hoffmann said.

She said if the commission makes a decision today, "I think I'll have to go celebrate."