Venango electronic voting system won't be in place by fall
By JUDITH O. ETZEL    The Derrick and News Herald   27 April 2005

A DELAY BY THE STATE IN ENDORSING SPECIFIC COMPUTER SYSTEMS FOR STATEWIDE USE HAS DERAILED THE COUNTY'S EFFORTS.

Venango County voters won't be casting their election ballots electronically any time soon.

"We will not be having electronic voting by the fall, as we had planned," said Denise Jones, county administrator and chief clerk, at a county commissioners meeting Wednesday.

Originally, the county had anticipated using touch-screen voting machines for the November general election this year. The system would replace the county's paper punch-card voting methods, long a controversial system beset with "hanging chads" and other problems.

The county had been tapped for a $488,000 federal grant through the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to replace its balloting system, and the funds were to be used to switch to an all-electronic voting plan. In February, several vendors offering those machines set up a public workshop at the Seneca fire hall to help familiarize voters with the system.

However, a delay by the state in certifying, or endorsing, specific computer systems for use statewide has derailed the county's efforts to have it in place this fall. The early plan called for the machines to be purchased by this month.

"That's not happening, but we do still have the funding. The money didn't change," said Jones.

The state is expected to choose certain electronic voting systems sometime soon, and that will start a new timetable for Venango County to buy the equipment, train poll workers and have the system on track by the 2006 primary election.

"We should have the equipment by January 1, and maybe we'll be able to use it for the primary next year," Jones told the commissioners.

In a related election matter, Jones said three polling places have been changed for the May 17 primary.

Those changes are: Sugarcreek 5, switched from the Rocky Grove fire hall to Galloway United Methodist Church; Franklin 1, changed from the county Exchange Building to the Franklin City Hall council chambers; and Oil City 1, transferred from the Rowe Building at the former Oil City Hospital to the Free Methodist Church at 85 Willow St.

Jones said the county election board needs an entire five-member election board for two county precincts: Plum Township and Oil City 6. Interested persons can contact Jones at 432-9512 in the courthouse.

"We have no one in those posts," said Jones. "People get paid for doing this for one day. A judge of election earns $100, an inspector $80 and a clerk $70."

Two training dates for poll workers have been scheduled. They will be held at 4:30 p.m. Monday at the Seneca fire department social hall and 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the First Baptist Church in Franklin.