Residents test voting machines
By: JD Prose - Beaver County Times
10/05/2005
 

BEAVER - Hundreds of Beaver County residents came to the courthouse on Tuesday to test the five touch-screen voting systems that are vying for a countywide contract.

While county officials asked for residents to vote on their preferences - using paper ballots, no less - an informal poll of residents showed a clear preference for a familiar name: UniLect Corp.'s Patriot system.

It was the Pennsylvania Department of State's decertification of an older-model Patriot system that caused county leaders so many headaches in recent months. Now, though, company officials are back with an d, full-color version that several voters clearly preferred.

"It's simpler," said Louise Jones, a judge of elections in Beaver Falls.

Jones was accompanied by Dorothy Carlo and Margaret Blue, poll workers in Beaver Falls who also said they preferred the revamped Patriot system. Election workers and voters already know the system, the women said.

Center Township resident Robin Cox said the systems were similar and appeared to be secure, but he was leaning toward the Patriot because it was familiar and easy to use.

"I never had any trouble with it," he said.

Such comments provided music to the ears of UniLect President Jack Gerbel, who has always insisted that his system was trustworthy and reliable.

"All the voters know how to use our system," he said. "All the poll workers know how to use it."

UniLect's new version of the Patriot features a larger, color screen and flashing boxes for races that have not been voted on. The screen can also change to a black screen with white lettering at the flip of a switch for voters having trouble reading the color screen.

Wout Kymmell, UniLect's state sales manager, said the county would merely have to buy new screens since it already has the older-model voting units. The new voting units would sell for $2,300 to $2,500, he said.

The four other companies competing for the county's services are Unisys Corp. (Accupoll), Advanced Voting Solutions (WinVote), Diebold (TSX) and ES&S (iVotronic).

However, the state has approved only Accupoll so far, and the others are awaiting word on their certifications. The machines will be available for testing from noon to 7 p.m. today in the courthouse.

WinVote, TSX and iVotronic would cost about $3,000 per unit, while Accupoll would be about $3,500, company representatives said.

Accupoll was the preferred model for Ambridge residents Peggy Zalewski and Candy Fitzsimmons, both of whom are blind.

"It's very blind-friendly if you read Braille," Zalewski said.

Fitzsimmons said she liked Accupoll's Braille-embossed buttons and the easy-to-understand synthesized voice that directs blind voters through headphones.

The county will receive $8,000 per precinct, or about $1 million, under the federal Help America Vote Act to purchase a new system.

All companies vying for the contract are part of a bulk purchasing agreement through the state's Department of General Services. State officials, though, have said the county would be responsible for any costs above those covered by the Help America Vote funds.

County officials must purchase a system before Jan. 1 so that it is in place for next year's primary.