Blunt says voting machines must have paper backup

Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Secretary of State Matt Blunt said Friday that elections officials who want to use electronic voting systems must find equipment that also produces a paper ballot backup.

In St. Louis County, which is among the areas considering the switch from punch cards to electronic machines, the top election official said the mandate could prove costly.

County elections director Judy Taylor said the requirement will add $12 million to the county's proposal to purchase touch screens next year. Among other things, she said the county would have to build climate-controlled storage facilities to keep the paper ballots for the required two years.

Taylor supports a cheaper approach, which would require that touch-screen machines have the capability to produce paper ballots, after the polls close, if a dispute arose over a particular contest.

Blunt said the requirement will enable voters to ensure they cast their ballots correctly and give election officials a paper record if results are challenged or if the electronic equipment breaks.

Blunt also said not to expect electronic voting to be used in any state elections this year.

The federal Help America Vote Act requires all polling places to have at least one electronic voting machine for use by disabled voters in place by January 2006. Missouri has received $11.5 million in federal money to help the 37 counties that use punch-card ballots replace them.