Some voters unhappy with new machines
November 12,2005
Victoria Hirschberg
The Monitor

EDINBURG ? Vernon Weckbacher said he felt uncomfortable voting Tuesday because of the little privacy new electronic voting machines provided.

"(Privacy) is something you?re accustomed to having," said the McAllen resident, who voted at Rayburn Elementary. "The law requires it, and when you?re out there in the open ? it?s kind of uncomfortable."

Weckbacher was not alone in his sentiment ? Hidalgo County Elections Administrator Teresa Navarro said she received about 50 complaints from voters who felt passers-by could view the ballot on new voting machines that feature a touch-screen ballot.

Two days after the election, a disappointed Navarro fired off a letter of complaint to Elections Systems & Software, the Nebraska-based company from which the county purchased the machines in June.

"(The machines) only had those two side little flaps, plus they were not sturdy," Navarro said. "We have at least 20 that are defective, and one the leg gave out and when it fell, it cracked the (Direct Recording Electronic machine). We were supposed to get booths. The booths that we saw at the voting system fair were not these booths."

In May, Navarro said ES&S presented the booths and machines at a voting machine forum at the University of Texas-Pan American. She said the machines that county officials approved resembled a box, so other people could not see the screen. During this week?s election, only two small side flaps slightly shielded the ballot.

In her letter addressed to the company?s vice president of customer service, Navarro requested that the company replace the plastic booths with the more private setup and pay for the damage caused to a voting machine because it fell after the plastic legs gave way. Navarro requested that ES&S rectify the situation before the March 7, 2006 primary.

ES&S spokeswoman Ellen Bogard said the St. Louis-based company would work with Hidalgo County officials to ensure they are satisfied with the product. She did not know whether the vice-president received the letter as of Friday.

"We certainly want to work with them and do whatever we need to make sure they have the booth they want," Bogard said. "Either way, we want to make sure they have the right booth."

Bogard said that ES&S records indicate it sent the machines the county ordered ? which were the latest model ? in June and October. The latest booth model leaves space on the sides in case Texas ever requires receipts for voters. The box-like design does not have this space.

Navarro said she received the booths in October, too late to send them back.

"As soon as I got them, I got on the phone and said I wanted the other ones," she said. "But ES&S didn?t have them in stock or they weren?t ready."