Luzerne County gets ready for electronic voting
CitizensVoice.com. March 31, 2006. BY TOM LONG STAFF WRITER

WILKES-BARRE — With a spat settled between the county and voting machine provider Electronic Systems and Services, elections director Leonard Piazza has been working with the company to get the machines delivered and make sure there are people here who know how to use them.

The touch-screen machines should be at the Water Street warehouse by April 21, Piazza said Wednesday. Rows of green lever voting machines still crowd the building.

Last week, ES&S said it could only deliver one touch-screen machine per precinct — supplementing them with paper ballots and optical scanners. Now, the Nebraska-based company tells Piazza it might be able to deliver more than 100 additional machines by the May 16 primary.

With the voting method finally decided, the county is beginning a two-pronged effort to prepare its trainers and poll workers, as well as to educate the public about the new machines.

The county has opened applications for 30 positions as trainers. ES&S will train these individuals, who will then help Piazza train poll workers. The elections bureau has also added an educational video and presentation about the new machine, called the iVotronic, to its Web site.

Piazza asks that computer savvy people make an effort to show their families the video. As voting machines arrive and become available, the Bureau of Elections will set up demonstrations at public events. Groups can request a demonstration on the bureau’s Web site or by telephone. A machine is also available at the bureau’s Penn Place office on Market Street in Wilkes-Barre for viewing.

For the most part, Piazza brushed over the clash between the county and ES&S. At a March 14 elections board meeting, Piazza announced that ES&S said it would no longer be able to provide voting machines for the primary — putting the county in danger of losing a $3 million federal grant. All counties in the country must have electronic voting systems in place under a federal mandate, the Help America Vote Act.

After letters from the county’s attorneys, the company said it would provide 316 machines — 400 short of the original order.

“Things are almost likely to get tense, especially when you’re under a mandate to get this done,” Piazza said of the dispute.

Paper ballots and an optical scan system will be used for the rest of the voting, saving the county the grant. All 750 machines will be delivered by November’s general election.

The company has provided details about future warranty plans, something Piazza was pushing for when talks broke down in March. Maintenance for 2006 is covered under the contract. A warranty for 2007 could cost about $151,000, Piazza said. The Help America Vote Act grant pays for much of the initial purchase and training. It does not cover maintenance or the eventual replacement of the machines, which are expected to last 10-15 years.

Anyone interested in applying for the temporary $12-per-hour training positions can get an application by clicking the Bureau of Elections link at www.luzernecounty.org. Applicants can also call 825-1715.

tlong@citizensvoice.com