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N.M. Must Buy Voting Machines Before Jan. 1 or Risk Lawsuit

Albuquerque Journal>Journal    22 October 2005
    SANTA FE? Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron is nearing a federal deadline to buy more than 1,450 voting machines to assist the state's disabled and non-English-speaking populations.
    But the two voting machines certified by federal authorities as disability-ready in New Mexico? making them de facto finalists in the state's hunt? don't appear to measure up to a new state law.
    And that could cost New Mexico or its counties an additional $1 million or more to retrofit either machine.
    A few of New Mexico's county clerks say that, if Vigil-Giron waits much longer, they may not be able to properly train staff and schedule voter tryouts before the June 2006 primary.
    "We're running out of time," said Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera. "They are not going to come in one month. They will take three months."
    Meanwhile, a lawsuit in state court seeks to block the state's use of the two machines, which are electronic touchscreen models. Plaintiffs' attorneys allege irregularities with those machines during the 2004 presidential election, claiming they occasionally switched votes.
    The state has moved to dismiss the lawsuit as groundless.
    A 2002 federal law is requiring all states to purchase a certain number of machines for use by disabled voters. New Mexico has been allotted $9 million for the purchase.
    The machines must be in place by Jan. 1, or the state risks a lawsuit by the U.S. Attorney General's office to force the purchase, federal officials said.
    Armed with audio and language-translation capabilities to help the state's disabled and non-English speaking populations, the machines are part of a 2002 election reform law Congress passed to prevent the confusion of the 2000 presidential election. The outcome to that contest was delayed for weeks because of vote recounts in several Florida counties and numerous legal challenges.

'I'm being cautious'
    Vigil-Giron said this week that she hasn't made up her mind about the machines and that the lawsuit isn't a factor in her deliberations.
    "I'm being very cautious that we the best system for our counties," she said. Her elections staff said Vigil-Giron is exploring whether to leave the ultimate decision about what machine to purchase to the counties.
    As of now, she is waiting on a recommendation from a disability committee, which could suggest another model, she said. But she acknowledged the unlikelihood that any other machines could win federal endorsement before Jan. 1.
    Ernest Marquez, the state's elections director, said it is likely that "someone would have to pay some money, whether it's the counties or the state," to upgrade whatever machines Vigil-Giron purchases to serve the disabled and non-English-speaking populations.
    State statute requires that, by 2007, all voting machines in New Mexico produce paper records voters can check to make sure they match the electronic vote they cast. There are 4,000 voting machines in use statewide now.
    The two models federally certified in New Mexico as disabled-ready do not create a voter-verifiable paper record immediately.
    One of the two machines, the Sequoia model, can be retrofitted to comply to the new state law. But the upgrade could run as high as $1.4 million if Vigil-Giron buys more than 1,450 of that company's machines.
    That price tag is based on the $1,000 Sequoia charges to retrofit each machine with a printer component, although the per unit cost could if the order for components is large enough, said Alfie Charles, spokesperson for Sequoia Voting Systems.
    ES&S declined to say how much it would cost to retrofit its iVotronic model, the other federally certified machine.
    Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza, for one, hopes it is the state that picks up the tab for upgrading the disabled-ready machines, and not the state's 33 counties. "Otherwise, it's another unfunded mandate," she said.
    Mary Langford, Do?a Ana County's election coordinator, said she's already facing a retrofitting cost. That county recently bought 75 Sequoia Edge machines for $500,000, only to discover they need to be retrofitted to qualify under the new state law.
    "That will be an additional $75,000 for our county that the legislators are not giving money for yet," Langford said. "We're all a little bit upset. The state's requirements are higher" than the federal How America Votes Act, the 2002 federal election reform law.

Common conundrum
    Doug Chapin of Electionline.org, an organization that tracks election reform efforts across the nation, said New Mexico is not alone in its struggle.
    "A lot of states are committed to accessible machines but don't want to have to retrofit those machines," Chapin said.
    Many states are also finding it difficult to find reliable machines that meet state standards and are accessible to disabled and non-English-speaking populations.
    "It's hard to say X number of states will have accessible machines by Jan. 1," Chapin said. Some states have identified a vendor but not signed a contract. Others have signed a contract but are awaiting the machines' delivery. Others, like New Mexico, haven't settled on a machine, he said.
    "If I am entered into a contract, that's good enough for me," Vigil-Giron said of the Jan. 1 deadline.
    Marquez, the elections director, said Vigil-Giron is exploring whether to let each of the state's 33 counties decide between machines.
    That was good news to Santa Fe County's Clerk Valerie Espinoza, who knows she will likely have to choose between the two machines.
    "I would hope we would be allowed to make our own choice," she said.