Counties hold cards on voting machines

Officials have 3 weeks to decide if touch-screen system acceptable

By Andy Kanengiser   The Clarion Ledger   01 August 2005 
County supervisors have three weeks to decide if they will accept or refuse touch-screen voting machines.

As of Friday, none of the state's 82 counties had rejected the machines, said Jay Eads, assistant secretary of state for elections.

The decision rests with county supervisors who were first notified of the Aug. 19 deadline in mid-July. But the secretary of state is operating under the assumption that counties want the machines ? unless they "opt out" by the deadline, said Eads, a former lawmaker.

The new machines would become available for congressional primaries in June 2006.

Lauderdale County District 2 Supervisor Jimmie Smith of Meridian said his board meets today and Tuesday and could discuss the machines as supervisors look at the budget. "I've got to get a little bit more information," Smith said.

Officials with the secretary of state's office said studies show the machines have reduced voting errors and will be less expensive.

"It's probably time for new voting machines for our county. Today, I would probably opt in. ... They will provide 100-something brand new voting devices," Smith said. Some of the county's voting machines date to 1992, he said.

"I think one of the things I'm hearing is these (new) machines will be programmed ... so we won't have to have ballots printed," Smith said.

Some Mississippi voters are willing to support the new system, although they have reservations.

"It's got the potential to be better," said Flowood resident David Hayes, 56, a human resources trainer. "I'd say give it a try, but I want to see some safeguards."

Clinton resident Kenneth Holmes, 70, said he's used touch-screen voting machines.

"I like it better, but there should be a paper trail somewhere in the machines," he said. "As long as it's safe and as long as they count the votes correctly" he said he can back new voting machines for all Mississippi counties.

"I'd like some sort of hard record in addition to an electronic one," said James Hendrix, 34, of Jackson, a salesman for a mortgage lender. "I'd want some form of paper backup" with the system, he said.

Madison Circuit Clerk Lee Westbrook said whether to accept the voting machines will come up at today's Madison County Board of Supervisors meeting in Canton.

Madison County is one of 11 Mississippi counties involved in a pilot project to test the new software and participated in a mock election completed July 22.

Westbrook, in an interview Friday, would not give her opinion, but said there are a number of pluses if Madison County would receive 157 voting machines.

The more machines the state purchases, the cheaper it costs, she said.

About $15 million in funds for the Mississippi machines come from the federal Help America Vote Act. It is 95 percent federally funded with a 5 percent state match, Eads said.

Secretary of State Eric Clark's office points to another plus for the touch screens ? the disabled community prefers them. The devices can be placed in one's lap or another convenient position, he said.

Another benefit is the electronic voting machines will tie into a new statewide voter registry on election night, Westbrook said. Election-night results would come in faster for counties that use the new machines and the numbers would go to the secretary of state, she said.

There is at least one down side to the new system. "It's always nice to have a paper ballot" in the event of a contested election, Westbrook said. "That's the only drawback."

Whatever systems county supervisors go with, Hendrix said he wants to see stronger efforts to clear up decades-old problems with voter fraud and irregularities. For many years, Hendrix said he's been concerned after reading reports that there are a number of Mississippi counties with more voters than population.

California elections officials recently rejected the Diebold machines after testing revealed a failure rate of 10 percent, saying the rate was too much of a risk.