Voting starts new era

October 4, 2005
By Kimberly Jahnke   Ogden Standard-Examiner Davis Burea 

FARMINGTON Voters in today's primary election here will be the first in Utah to test new electronic voting machines.

And city, county and state election officials will be on hand to make sure the vote is hitch-free.

The new voting machines, from Diebold Inc., are undergoing limited testing before being introduced statewide for primary elections in June. They will also be used in November general elections in Farmington and Brigham City.

Elections officials Monday dismissed concerns that the machines will create problems for voters used to traditional punch card or paper ballots.

The machines were on display at the Davis County Fair in August and met good reviews, said County Clerk/Auditor Steve Rawlings.

"Ninety-nine percent said, 'We love this,' " Rawlings said.

Despite unfamiliarity, the new machines aren't expected to increase the time it takes to vote.

Election judges spent five hours training to learn the ins and outs of the machines and prepare to answer voters' questions, said County Election Coordinator Pat Beckstead.

The technology shouldn't affect the time it takes to calculate results, either, said Farmington City Recorder Margy Lomax.

The machines were ed by the state in June to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act enacted in 2002 in response to the contested 2000 presidential election.

The act requires that older voting systems, such as Utah's punch cards, are phased out and replaced by newer technology.

Diebold spokesman David Bear said the electronic systems reduce two of the most common voter errors: They do not allow overvoting marking too many candidates in one race; and they safeguard against undervoting a review screen prompts voters if no candidate or too few candidates were ed for a race.

The machines also print an internal paper receipt, which can be viewed through a glass window as a final confirmation. The paper audit is stored within the machine and can be used in event of a recount.

The machines were purchased with state and federal funds at a cost of about $3,000 each.