Mandate to buy voting machines proving elusive

By Nancy Petersen    Philadelphia Inquirer    05 October 2005

With a federal deadline of Jan. 1 to buy a new voting system, the Chester County Commissioners are expected to appoint a task force tomorrow to check out what's available.

The five-member group won't have much to do.

So far, the Pennsylvania Department of State has certified just one system, a product made by Accupoll of Tustin, Calif., and even that certification comes with conditions. Certifications on 13 others are pending.

Meanwhile, counties around the state are watching the days go by with no hint of when more systems will be approved.

"I can't emphasize enough how frustrating this has been," Bucks County Commissioner James F. Cawley said. "Our great hope is that on or before Dec. 31 they might actually certify some systems for us to make a decision on."

The deadline is government at its worst, Chester County Commissioner Andrew Dinniman said.

"The counties are being rushed into a multimillion-dollar decisions with an arbitrary deadline," he said. "It is virtually impossible to have systems in place and people trained by May."

The new system must be up and running by the May primary.

Patrick Williams, administrator of the federal Help America Vote Act in Pennsylvania, said delays at the federal level in getting systems certified have created a logjam at the state level.

"Everything has been backed up," he said. "As long as a company has sent their system in to begin the federal certification process, they can come to us. But we can't issue a report until the federal process is finished."

The Help America Vote Act, enacted after the debacle of the 2000 presidential election in Florida, mandates that counties have at least one electronic machine in each precinct that is accessible to the handicapped.

Pennsylvania has received more than $135 million in federal funds for the new machines and voter education but the cost can't be calculated until a system is chosen.

The state is using the federal money as an incentive for counties to invest in a single electronic system that meets all the requirements of the Help America Vote Act, rather than running two or more voting systems at the same time.

In the Philadelphia region, Chester, Bucks and Delaware counties must replace their voting systems. In Chester County, voters use punchcard ballots; in Bucks and Delaware, they use lever machines that the federal government said recently did not meet the new standards.

If a county decides to replace its entire system, Williams said, it is eligible to receive up to $8,000 for each precinct to help cover the replacement costs. If it decides to go with dual systems, the reimbursement is cut in half, to $4,000.

Montgomery County and Philadelphia use newer systems that were certified to 1990 standards and can be tweaked to meet the 2002 standards, Williams said. They will receive up to $2,500 for each precinct.

Because the Pennsylvania election code does not require a so-called paper trail to verify a vote, grassroots organizations and some legislators are lobbying to ensure that the new systems generate one.

"Constituents are demanding that the new systems give an accurate portrayal of their votes," said state Rep. Dan B. Frankel (D., Allegheny) who has introduced legislation that would require all electronic voting machines to produce a paper record. He said that would give voters "a sense of confidence in the electoral process."

Chester County Commissioner Carol Aichele said the county's new task force will go to demonstrations, check out the vendors and make recommendations to the commissioners about the different systems.

Aichele said she is worried that, with counties around the country facing this deadline, demand may far outstrip supply.

"I have a lot of confidence in the can-do attitude of American manufacturing," she said, "but this is going to be worse than trying to get a Cabbage Patch Kid."