On the ground

Much information and misinformation concerning new voting systems has been circulating. Members of the Democratic Committee have requested the Election Commissioners to hold a public forum on the new equipment. I have discussed the matter with my counter-part and we have agreed to do so after the first of the year. We hope to have more information available at that time than we do now.

At this juncture, we are not even certain we will have new equipment in place for the 2007 election cycle. The testing process at the state level is going at a snail’s pace and as of this writing, no equipment has passed muster. It is quite likely that the choices will be extremely narrow and in reality there will be little or no choice.

New York State Law has addressed many of the concerns posed by other states and that is the reason acceptance is taking so long. Regardless of the type of equipment used, a voter verified paper audit is required. No wireless capability will be allowed, so no one will be able to use a remote device to hack in. No internet hookups will be allowed. We will be able to reconstruct an election vote by vote (without knowing how an individual voted) and will be required to hand canvass the paper of 3% of the precincts and compare with the machine tallies.

During the 2006 election cycle, we had experience with the ES&S Automark. The ballot and programming costs were exorbitant. The machine cost $5,000. Ballot and programming costs for primary were $3,702.55. For General Election, ballot and programming costs were $5,550.00 and the machine broke down and could not be used on Election Day. Other counties experienced similar problems with the same type of equipment. In a nutshell, we spent $14,252.55 for one machine, the ballots and programming costs. The machine was used by four voters in one election, and failed for the second. We are still waiting for the company to rectify the problem and the State Board is assisting us.

Obviously, when given the choices, we’ll have to decide what will work best for Delaware County. We do not intend to pick a system which will cause more problems than it solves.

I wish everyone a happy and prosperous holiday season and will see you at the January meeting. I am in the process of preparing the notices.