Porter county voters join high-tech world

Dec. 3, 2005

By Jim Stinson    Valpariso Post-Tribune  

VALPARAISO ? Arriving with a $395,800 check in hand, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said Friday that the era of punch-card voting machines in Porter County is over.

Porter County was the last county Rokita dealt with over two years of reform action that still used the machines, he said. Ushering in the era of optical-scan equipment, Rokita presented the check to Porter County Clerk Dale Brewer and Election Board member Patrick Lyp.

The county machines will be used in the May primaries.

Rokita said it will be quite a change from November 2000. At the time of the controversial Florida recount involving former Vice President Al Gore and then-Gov. George W. Bush of Texas, half of all Hoosiers voted using the punch-card machines.

The machines fell out of favor immediately when the presidential recount of 2000 became a tale of hanging chads, caused mostly by three Florida counties which used punch-card or lever-punch machines.

Porter County will join other counties in getting rid of the old machines, last used in Porter County in the 2004 elections. The county will replace them with machines approved by the federal and state governments. (Some counties, like Lake County, already use accepted machinery.)

Brewer said the money will go toward the office?s purchase of 140 optical-scan voting machines from Election Systems & Software Inc. The systems use computerized vote-counting techniques, but they also use paper for the input ? in case of an audit or recount.

The exact model is the M 100, an optical scanner that quickly counts then stores used ballots, a major reason the board chose it, according to Brewer.

Brewer said technology with a paper trail was vital to the board?s decision. The system also ensures no power outage or chip damage can erase votes.

To ensure full compliance with the U.S. Help America Vote Act of 2002, Brewer and the county Election Board also purchased machines accessible to the handicapped.

Each of Porter County?s 124 precincts will have an ESS AutoMark machine, which Brewer said are easier to use for those with disabilities.

The ES&S Web site describes the AutoMark as a ?ballot-marking system designed to provide privacy and accessibility to voters who are blind, vision-impaired, or have a disability or condition that would make it difficult or impossible to mark a ballot in the usual way.