Electronic voting machines arrive in county
By Michael Wright
The Facts   

Published October 10, 2005
ANGLETON ? If you ever wanted to vote for Abraham Lincoln, now?s your chance.

Brazoria County?s new voting machines have arrived at the elections office in the Brazoria County Courthouse annex in Angleton, and officials there have set up a machine to allow people to practice.

The electronic machines will be used for the first time in the March primaries, but Janice Evans, the head of the county?s elections division, wants to make sure voters have enough time to become familiar with them.

In addition to the demo model at the elections office, Evans said she?s willing to bring the machines to any group that wants to try them out.

?We will take this equipment out to any groups that request a demonstration of it,? Evans said.

When voters show up at the polling place, they will receive an access code to enter into the machines. That code will display the ballot for their precinct, said John Gartrell, project manager for Hart InterCivic, the company that manufactured the county?s 600 machines.

Once the ballot is displayed, the voter will turn a dial to highlight the candidate of his or her choice in a race. When the right name is highlighted, the voter will push ?enter,? then turn the dial to the next race. When the voter is finished, the screen will display the candidates ed in each race for confirmation. If it?s correct, the voter will push the ?cast ballot? button. If it?s not, the voter will spin the dial backward, or highlight the wrong choice and push ?enter? to correct his or her vote.

All machines in a voting location will be linked to the election judge?s computer, which will tabulate the results for that precinct.

While the process sounds complicated, especially for technophobes, it?s actually quite user-friendly, and both county and Hart officials are pledging to make sure everyone is familiar with it by Election Day.

?As soon as our contract with the county officially begins, we will do a voter education and outreach program,? Gartrell said.

Evans said anyone wanting to take a test drive is welcome to .

The dummy ballot features Lincoln for president, Walt Whitman for Senate and Mark Twain for governor.