County must buy new voting machines

Federally required but not funded

By Aimee Edmondson    Memphis Commercial Appeal   November 28, 2005

Shelby County is about to buy almost 1,500 new voting machines as it gears up for a huge 2006 ballot.

Election officials were hoping for federal money to help foot the $4 million-plus bill, but most of the $25 million flowing from Washington to Tennessee is going to smaller, less technologically advanced counties.  
Right now, Shelby County voters punch the red buttons on 20-year-old Shouptronic machines dinosaurs in the electronic world.

About 44 other counties with really outdated technology, like those with punch cards or levers, are getting federal money to replace their whole systems.

Shelby is one of 46 counties that's only getting money to buy machines to serve disabled voters. That's one machine for each of the 283 precincts.

After the 2000 presidential election fiasco, a new federal law called for electronic voting equipment and therefore a certain end to the infamous hanging chads.

Shelby's old Shouptronics, which are no longer supported by the manufacturer, are electronic so the county has to pay the bill.

The county already has about 100 new machines with touch-screen technology set up in early-voting sites.

The Shelby County Election Commission plans to decide what kind of machines to buy by the end of the year. It is scheduled to discuss the matter at its Wednesday meeting.

Election Commission chairman Greg Duckett said the machines need to be in place for the May primary.

"We need to get one election under our belt before August '06," Duckett said.

The big decision will be whether to pick a machine that gives each voter a receipt, proof of how they voted as a paper trail and a backup to the technology.

Critics of these machines worry about the anonymity of each vote.