Vote is in on new ballot-machine vendors

Officials to name possible suppliers today; yet to choose system

MIKE DONILA   Charlotte Observer    01 December 2005

Union officials next week will begin overhauling the county's election system, a state-mandated requirement that could cost as much as $2 million.

The new system is expected to be similar to the one used during the past 15 years. But the voting machines will be smaller, provide a verifiable ballot, contain results from early voting and meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

State officials will announce the names of the prospective vendors today. County elections officials will then decide in upcoming weeks whether to use the "direct-record" system which the county currently uses or the "optical-scan" system, which the county used prior to 1992.

For direct-record voting, voters cast ballots on a touch-screen machine. In the optical-scan system, a voter records choices on a card that entered into a machine where the vote is tallied.

Local election officials said Tuesday they were leaning toward the direct-record system and said it could cost as much as $2 million. Although they are using a similar system, the old machines can't be used.

The county probably will have to buy about 380 new voting machines. The current machines cost about $4,000 each, said Elections Board Director Shirley Secrest, but officials won't know for at least a week how much the new system will cost. The county hasn't looked into the cost of the optical-scan system.

The county has allocated $900,000 for the system and will probably get at least $500,000 from the state to go toward the machines, said Bobby Griffin, Elections Board chairman.

"We've had a very good system in place. ... The only glitches we've ever had have been human error not machine," Griffin said. "They've been most reliable in recording the citizens' votes and we've enjoyed the machines."

Griffin said the new system which state lawmakers approved last year will improve election quality across the state.