KC, county split on casting better ballots

By DAVE HELLING

The Kansas City Star

 

Kansas City and Jackson County election officials are at odds over the purchase of thousands of new voting machines to replace aging punch-card ballots ?? the kind of system blamed for the Florida 2000 re-count fiasco.

Some Kansas City election authorities prefer ATM-like touch-screen voting machines, which they say are convenient and state of the art.

Jackson County officials say those machines are too expensive. They are leaning toward an optical-scan system, in which voters use a pen or pencil to fill in an oval next to a candidate??s name. A machine then reads those ballots.

Documents provided by the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners showed a full touch-screen system for all Jackson County voters could cost as much as $14.6 million. An optical-scan system could be purchased for $4.5 million.

But the federal government, which is requiring election boards to upgrade their voting machinery by August, would kick in some of the money. That would reduce the local cost of the most-expensive touch-screen system to $11.4 million and the optical-scan system to $3.5 million.

Nothing requires the Kansas City and Jackson County election boards, which oversee voting in Jackson County, to buy identical voting machines. Officials said the price gap between optical-scan and touch-screen systems is so large that each board could end up choosing different systems to save money.

??I think it??s best for voters to have the same system,?? said Charlene Davis, one of the Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners?? two election directors.

At the same time, Davis said, she prefers the optical-scan option.

Optical-scan machines are an older technology, however, and some Kansas City election officials say they want something more modern.

??Optical scan is obsolete,?? said Kansas City election board Republican Director Ray James.

James said Kansas City and Jackson County officials were talking informally about coordinating their purchases of the machines, in part, because they wanted to avoid the confusion that might come from two different voting systems in the same county.

Both hope to have new machines in place by April, when voters may decide the fate of a tax increase for the Truman Sports Complex.

Both boards have met with vendors for discussions and demonstrations.

An Oakland, Calif., company, Sequoia Voting Systems, has told the city election board it could provide 1,725 touch-screen machines, including machines with audio capability for voters with disabilities, for $7.3 million.

If the county buys the same system, it would need 2,000 machines, doubling the cost to $14.6 million.

Election Systems & Software of Omaha, Neb., has offered an optical scan-based system that includes touch screens for some voters with disabilities.

The potential cost for both Kansas City and Jackson County: just $4.5 million.
Rival voting systems

?? The Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners is considering touch-screen machines similar to ATMs.

Pros: State of the art

Cons: Expensive

?? The Jackson County Board of Election Commissioners is leaning toward an optical-scan system.

Pros: Cheaper

Cons: Old technology