High?tech voting machines head to Lee County

Scanners will pick up mistakes, allow voters to correct their ballots

By AIMEE TABOR     The Hawk Eye    06 September 2005

FORT MADISON ? In the past, voters who made a mistake had their ballots tossed out. A new system in Lee County soon will save those votes.

The county is installing a new precinct voting system that will alert voters if they overvote and give them a chance to correct their ballot.

To comply with the Help America Vote Act, the county is buying new voting machine equipment, which includes special machines for handicapped people, from Omaha, Neb.?based Election System & Software.

"What we're getting is precinct optical scanners," Lee County Auditor Anne Pedersen said. "Their ballots will be counted at the precinct rather than (the courthouse). After they vote and their ballot goes into the precinct counter, it's counted. If there's an error, the machine will kick it back out."

Instead of literally kicking the ballot back out, the ES&S machines will issue an on?screen alert to the voter.

"The ES&S machine will keep the ballot hidden and it will ask the voter if they want to correct their ballot," Cindy Renstrom, county elections deputy, said.

The ES&S system ensures privacy because it doesn't just automatically kick out the ballot, Pedersen said, fulfilling HAVA's requirement for second?chance voting. The scanners read what a person filled out and can tell if someone overvoted. If there's a write?in candidate on the ballot, the ES&S machines separates them and places them in a separate bin.

The county received about $228,000 in HAVA funds to buy 24 machines to tally 23 precincts and absentee ballots. The new system will replace the central count system and is expected to cost about $224,835.

Although federal money will cover those expenses, changing systems will require that the county spends some money. The county will have to pay for additional computer hardware not covered under the grant, Pedersen said.

The county will buy a computer and printer for voter registration, which will be covered under the federal grant. However, the county has to buy an additional computer and printer for the Keokuk office.

Pedersen said county Attorney Mike Short is reviewing the terms of the E&S contract. She is hoping it will be placed on the supervisors' agenda later this month and expects to meet HAVA deadlines.

"We have to have them in place and operational by the June 6 primary," Pedersen said.

E&S was chosen over Diebold Election Systems after tests and demonstrations. Pedersen and several of her election workers, including Renstrom and elections administrator Denise Fraise, felt ES&S was the best choice.

For the handicapped accessible machines, Pedersen said Fraise suggested the county use a type of touch?screen machine that can be used by people who are handicapped and others.

"People can vote on it whether they're disabled or not," Pedersen said.

Pedersen said the county also decided to stay with ES&S, which is the company it uses now, because of its service and the ease of using the equipment for both voters and election workers.

The supervisors recently approved a precinct consolidation, going from 26 voting regions to 23.

The change will combine Cedar and Marion townships with Franklin Township, Charleston and Van Buren townships to Des Moines Township, and Greenbay, Washington and Denmark townships.

That decision is awaiting approval from the Iowa's Secretary of State's office, Pedersen said.