Voting machines join Ferris wheel, corn dogs at fair

By Jay Langley    The Daily Toredor   September 28, 2005

Besides elephant rides and cotton candy, fair-goers this year also can take time to get acquainted with the future of voting in Lubbock.

The Elections Office is using its display space at the Panhandle-South Plains Fair to offer a hands-on demonstration of the new handicap-accessible voting machines.

The 2002 Help America Vote Act mandates that every voting precinct have at least one handicap-accessible voting machine by Jan. 1, 2006.

"We are having to upgrade the entire voting system," said Dorothy Kennedy, Lubbock County Elections Administrator. "Every county in the country is having to do this."

Kennedy said two types of direct recording electronic devices nationwide exist.

"Ours is a wheel turn," she said. "There are others that are touch screens."

To use the wheel turn, the voter turns the wheel to highlight their ballot choice. Then the voter presses the enter button to enter the ion.

"It allows folks with disabilities to vote very easily," Kennedy said.

Earlier this year, the county purchased 800 of the eSlate machines from Hart InterCivic.

The eSlate comes equipped with braille and headphones for blind voters.

Kennedy said besides being handicap accessible, the new machines should make voting faster for everyone.

"It should be much quicker to vote and to tabulate votes," Kennedy said.

Sue and James Ball are both election officials who work the elections booth at the fair.

"People seem to be very impressed by the new machines," Sue Ball said.

Sue Ball said the negative feedback has been limited.

"We have only had a few negative responses to the new equipment," she said. "I think some people are used to things like bridal registries, so they wish it was a touch screen."

Sue Ball said besides trying out the new voting machines, people could also register to vote at the elections booth.

"We have only had a few people register," she said. "Most of the people who come to try the machines are already registered voters."

Lubbock resident Betty Johnson said she likes the new electronic voting.

"It seems very easy to work," she said. "It is very clear and seems extremely handicap-friendly."

Randy Graham from Lubbock said having the elections booth at the fair is a good idea.

"I didn't even know about it until I came here," he said. "The only problem I see with the new machines is the new learning curve for people."

Graham said the new machines seem efficient.

"It seems like it would make it much faster to count votes," he said.

James Ball said he is impressed by the security of the new voting system.

"A vote does not ever leave this area," James Ball said.

Once a person casts a vote, the vote is automatically saved on a memory card, James Ball said.

James Ball said the whole voting process would go faster for every one if people bring their voter registration cards with them to the voting booth.

"Overall, this should make voting a less stressful process for everyone involved," he said.