Board mulls voting machines

Decision between two companies still unclear after presentations

Tuesday, November 1, 2005

By Molly Parker    Peoria Journal Star
PEORIA - The Peoria Board of Election Commissioners seemed to have it all figured out just a few short weeks ago.

The plan was to begin negotiations on a nearly $1 million contract for new electronic voting machines with Populex Corp., the Dundee-based corporation headed by one of the election commissioner's distant relatives.

But after a Monday meeting of the board, it remained unclear which company would get the bid. No vote was taken after lengthy presentations by both Populex and Texas-based Hart InterCivic, which the Peoria County Clerk's Office is negotiating with. Hart InterCivic was also the city's second choice.

Previously, the board had endorsed Populex, but that was before a new member was added to the board, and a veteran was asked to step aside.

The startup company began at the behest of the election commission, and a new commissioner was appointed after it became public that commissioner Eugene Wittry had stock in the company and was related to the company's president.

The company has only been tested officially in a small fire district election, and Sangamon County is the only other jurisdiction currently negotiating with Populex.

"What you're asking me to do is vote for a system with zero experience," said Mary Harkrader, the newest member of the board. "I'm not comfortable with a company that just began and was asked by this commission (to make the machines)."

Only two of the commission's three members can vote on the decision. Wittry, who is still on the board, cannot vote because of his relationship to the company. Commissioner Tommy Heard was asked to step aside because his term was up. Commissioner Martin Lawless still supports buying from Populex, as does Peoria Election Commission Executive Director Jeanette Mitzelfelt, who is not a voting member of the board.

Mitzelfelt said she still believes Populex is the best system because of what it offers the city and because it can be purchased at a lower price. The board can take a vote at its next meeting, which is Nov. 9, though it remains unclear whether they will. A decision must be made by the end of the year for the commission to take advantage of federal money available through the 2002 Help America Vote Act.

The act requires that all voting jurisdictions have machines in place by January that allow all disabled voters to cast a ballot without assistance. Both companies have machines that meet this requirement, but they function quite differently.

The machine offered by Hart InterCivic uses a wheel-like device to make ions, while the Populex machine uses a stylus to touch the screen. Also, the Populex system spits out a paper ballot that is placed in the ballot box by the voter while the Hart machine records its votes electronically. A paper trail, as required by the state of Illinois, remains in the system.

Another key difference in the machines is that Populex has already been federally certified to handle the city's unique style of cumulative voting used to elect at-large councilmen. Hart does not yet have software certified to handle this type of voting, though David Hart, the company's chairman, said he expects that process to be completed by the summer of 2006.

Mitzelfelt said she's concerned Hart won't have cumulative voting capabilities by the time the city needs it in early 2007.

Also, Mitzelfelt noted that the city could buy the Populex machines for about $400,000 less than they could purchase machines from Hart.

Harkrader, however, expressed concerns about what would happen if Populex, a new company, went bankrupt. Board attorney Robert Day said the current request for proposal does not include a provision that would protect the city should Populex go out of business. He suggested that the board could inquire with Populex about adding a provision to the contract that would protect the city should their business fail.

Commissioner Heard, who attended the meeting despite no longer belonging to the board, said that if there was always a fear of newness, no progress would ever be made.

"If everyone always took that attitude, we'd still be riding around in a horse and buggy," he said.