Fort Bend prepares to unveil voting equipment
By Stephen Palkot  Fort Bend Herald-Coaster   October 11, 2005   
  

Fort Bend County's newly acquired voting machines will resemble a typical household appliance far more than any computer, said Elections Administrator Steve Raborn.

"The biggest message we want to give voters is you don't have to have computer experience to use these," he said.

Raborn made the analogy at a demonstration of the county's Hart InterCivic electronic voting machines on Tuesday. The machines will be used for the first time for the Nov. 8 elections and early voting.

The machines include a large knob that is turned to make ions for candidates or ballot measures, and will allow disabled voters, including the blind and those with limited upper body movement, to vote in privacy, said Raborn.

Purchased earlier this year, the machines comply with 2002's Help America Vote Act and will greatly increase the timing for the county to conduct vote tabulations.

For about 20 years, the county implemented optical scan ballots, which voters complete by hand. Raborn said final results for county elections typically would not be tabulated until about 3 a.m. under the old system.

Under the old system, voters may have circled the name of a candidate or have made some other incorrect mark, leaving election workers to guess the voters' "intent."

"This really eliminates that problem," said Raborn. "It's virtually impossible to mark the ballot improperly."

Electronic voting machines have been met with some skepticism over concerns for their ease-of-use and security. Raborn said he will be conducting demonstrations for a number of civic groups, including senior citizens groups, church groups and clubs in the county.

On voting days, poll workers will be available to assist voters. Plus, the machines themselves will include a button that can be pushed to summon a poll worker for help during the voting process, said Raborn.

Demonstration machines will be available for use at early voting sites, where voters can practice use of the machines before casting their ballots. They will not be available for regular voting.

Should a county resident mark the incorrect choice for an item, they may correct it. Voters may opt to decline from voting in some races, and a screen showing all choices will be displayed to voters before they cast the ballot, said Raborn.

Votes on the machines will be secure, said Raborn. Prior to elections, the units themselves are locked in a room in the Elections Office that requires a key swipe to enter. Only four employees will have access to them.

The machines will arrive at polling places several days before the election and will be stored under lock-and-key," said Raborn.

Once voting begins, the machines may not be accessed via the Internet or other remote access, said Raborn, as there are no outside connections.

Plus, each vote becomes stored immediately in three places, said Raborn. The vote is tabulated in the "control box," a central unit connected to machines at a voting site, and two storage devices in the machines that save backup copies of each vote.

"If any one piece of equipment goes down on election day, the votes are still scored," said Raborn.

In the event of a recount, the votes are printed out from the memory cards and counted by hand. No vote can be linked to any voter, said Raborn.

A battery backup lasting 18 hours will prevent the machines from shutting down in a power failure or losing votes, said Raborn.

The bottom line, according to Raborn, is the new voting system will not be difficult.

"I think people will find it pretty easy," he said. "There are some people who don't like change and there is a learning curve to any change."