Problems with new voting machines slow election results
The Tribune. May 3, 2006. By JEFF ACKENBACK

One of the major headlines moving into the 2006 primary election was the widespread use of new voting machines from ES&S to comply with federal legislation aimed at making polls more accessible.

Although the actual voting went fairly smoothly throughout the day in Jackson County, the new machines eventually caused some problems as election night headed into the late hours.

?ES&S has been here reading the packs, and they are having problems getting them merged together with the power packs from the Eagle machine, which is the optical scan we?ve always had,? Jackson County Clerk Sarah Benter said Tuesday night.

Because of the problems caused by the machines, Benter and the Jackson County Election Board were left with no alternative but to count results from each machine in each precinct, a process that didn?t wrap up until nearly 4:30 a.m. today.

?I?m not sure whether it was a software problem or a coding problem, but I certainly hope they?ll figure it out and fix it by November,? Benter said. ?We had to count everything by hand, and I know we?re not the only county encountering it. I know Clark County is one, and a couple more in southern Indiana are experiencing the same problems.?

Counting the ballots by hand led to another, more minor problem, as the wrong pack from Grassy Fork Township was counted originally, which led to an eventual recount for that area and a check over Brownstown 4 to make sure that was the only case.

?They read a tape that was ran to zero the machine out, and they had run that tape first and it wasn?t the correct one. They thought it was because a poll worker had accidentally signed it off, and when they realized it wasn?t right, they found the real one and made sure it was also signed off,? Benter said. ?There was a full recount for that area, and I feel very confident that everything from Grassy Fork is fine now.?

Bob Millman, one of the county men charged with keeping tabs on all voting equipment, said there were a few minor problems, but he hadn?t anticipated anything major based on the overall acceptance of the machines.

?We took the crew this morning and went around to the precincts to see how they were doing with the voting machines, and some didn?t do well with them because the people were afraid and reluctant to use them, but some were really getting the hang of it, and after the inspectors did it two or three times, they liked to do it,? Millman said. ?I was amazed, because in Salt Creek it was about even for people using the old and the new.?

Millman says there were a few problems getting them started and how to close them at the end of the day, but he attributed it to the new process and said with time that would iron itself out.

While pleased that the voting went smoothly, Benter was not happy with the performance of the machines when it came time to count the votes.

?Either they?ll have to fix them or remove them with something new in their place. I?ve talked with ES&S when they called to check on how things were going, and I told them not very well and that I wasn?t happy and would be talking to them more about it Wednesday,? Benter said. ?At this point, we?re all tired, it?s been a long day for everyone, and I apologize for this, but I feel it?s something ES&S is going to have to solve.?