Voting machines on way to Contra Costa

By Lisa Vorderbrueggen

CONTRA COSTA TIMES   07 January 2005

 

MARTINEZ - Contra Costa voters will find new equipment at the polls in March that county Clerk-Recorder Steve Weir says will produce faster election results and an instant error check.

The counting machine, about the size of a three-drawer metal filing cabinet, will scan and record votes in each of the county's 622 precincts as the voter s the ballot into the ballot box.

Poll workers then upload the results to the election department's central computer after the polls close.

Under the old system, poll workers transported the ballots to election headquarters where staff ran them through scanners that tabulated the results.

Voters will also hear a beep as they their ballots into the counter if it detects a voting error, such as failing to vote in a particular race or choosing too few or too many candidates.

The voter will have the opportunity to correct and resubmit the ballot. Under the old system, the error resulted in a voided vote for that particular candidate or issue because it was not detected until too late for the voter to fix it.

Each of the $5,000 counters even includes a battery that will last four hours in case the power goes out.

"I liked what I saw," said Mike Arata, who was involved in a 1995 lawsuit against the county over alleged election fraud. He also works with his wife, Sharon, who leads the Voter Integrity Project of Contra Costa County. He and several dozen folks attended a demonstration Thursday.

"There has always been concern about what could happen to ballots during the transfer from the precinct," Arata said. "But now, the ballots will be counted at the precinct, and the system produces a printed tape of the results observable by a pollwatcher that can be reconciled with the ballots."

The counters, built by Omaha-based Election Systems and Services, should not be confused with controversial touch-screen voting machines, Weir said.

Unlike touch-screen voting machines that record the vote on a computer chip, the county's new counters still rely on paper ballots marked by voters.

"If something happens, we still have the ballots and recounts will be done from the original ballots," Weir said. "

Weir moved to the counter system as a precursor to a federal mandate that by 2006 disabled citizens must be able to vote unassisted and privately.

The counter uses larger ballots compatible with a voting machine under development that will meet the federal guidelines.

The machine offers devices to aid the disabled, such as a Braille and voice-activated keyboard, that will allow voters to cast their votes and produce a marked, paper ballot that can be scanned.

While the voting machine for disabled citizens awaits state certification, Weir said he plans to roll out the counters as early as the March 8 election.

That will allow his staff and poll workers, and the public, Weir said, to gain experience with the counting machines before the 2006 election and the addition of the equipment for disabled voters.

Contra Costa will use a combination of state bond and local money to fund the roughly $3 million purchase for the counters.

Sacramento used the devices successfully in November, and a half-dozen additional Northern California counties have or expect to sign purchase contracts.