Carteret wants to test voting equipment
August 10,2005
Jannette Pippin     New Bern Sun Journal

BEAUFORT - Carteret commissioners want to see the county's electronic voting equipment put to a test before any other voting method is put into place.

"If they test OK, I'd like us to use them. If they don't, let's get some other method of voting," Commissioner Doug Harris said Tuesday.

The Board of Commissioners agreed Monday night to a Harris motion authorizing the county manager to contact the N.C. Board of Elections about testing the performance of the county voting machines. The county board also agreed to ask the Carteret County Board of Elections to join them in making the request.

The action was taken at the first county board meeting since the local elections board decided to quit using the UniLect Patriot voting system, a source of controversy since the November 2004 election. More than 4,438 ballots were lost due to an apparent programming mishap that affected the storage capacity of the electronic equipment.

The three-member Board of Elections was divided in its decision, with Republican Sue Verdon voicing her opposition. Chairman Ed Pond, who made the motion to ditch UniLect, called it a step toward restoring voter confidence.

But Harris said he doesn't want to be so quick to abandon the equipment when the state Board of Elections director has said Carteret's lost votes were due to human error.

"If it's because of human error, I don't think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater without testing the machines," he said.

The Carteret Board of Elections notified commissioners of its no-UniLect decision on July 12, and Pond listed in a letter three alternate voting methods to be considered for this fall's election. The options include using hand-counted paper ballots, or renting either an optical scan voting system or direct-reading electronic system similar to what is now used.

The notice from the elections board said it would need to make a decision on a voting method by Sept. 1 and welcomed input from the county, which is responsible for funding elections. However, the Board of Elections has never made a formal request to the county with details on what option it would like to proceed with and exactly what it would cost.

The request by Carteret commissioners now puts the issue back before local election officials. While a decision to no longer use UniLect has been made, Harris said he thinks equipment testing should be pursued.

"They may say the same thing again, but I think we ought to make the request," he said.

When this request is heard, one new member of the Board of Elections will be listening. Democrat Bill Henderson was recently appointed to the local board by the state Board of Elections and will replace Pond. A swearing-in ceremony will be held today at 9 a.m. at the Carteret County Board of Elections office in Beaufort, and a new chairman and secretary for the board will be ed.