New voting machines purchased for county voters
 
 
By AMBER LESTER,   Coalfield Progress   June 21, 2005 
 
    
Voters in Wise County will be using new voting machines at all of the county's 12 polling locations in November.  
Wise County Registrar Tom Chester has received federal money for 40 touch screen voting machines from the Help America Vote Act, which made federal money available to states to replace older voting machines.

The machines, manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems, cost $3,525 each. Thirteen of the new machines are audio enabled for blind voters.

When voters use the machines, they will touch the screen to choose their candidate's name, rather than pull a lever or submit a ballot. Chester feels the older mechanical lever machines were accurate and easy to understand, but the county had to accept the offer to upgrade.

"The money was made available and if you didn't take advantage of it, it would not be there forever," he said in a Friday interview. "We had only until 2006 to decide. After that, the locality would be responsible for it. Basically, Wise County is getting all new voting machines at no cost to the county."

The newer machines are not only easier to move, but will hopefully obtain results quicker by the end of Election Day, says Chester. An estimated 30 new machines will be used this November at all Wise County locations.

Voters in last week's primaries had a chance to see the new machines for demonstrations at the polling places. According to poll administrators, the response was positive. The registrar intends to familiarize citizens with the new process as much as possible before Election Day.

"We're going to take them to some civic organizations to demonstrate and maybe have some places where people can see it," Chester said. "We hope to expose as many people as we can before November."