Morgan to receive voting equipment
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
By Deanne Winterton
Standard-Examiner correspondent

MORGAN The Morgan County Council approved a contract with the state Friday that allows the county to move into the computerized age of elections.

Morgan County can ditch its antiquated punch-card voting system because, by September, it will receive 35 new computerized systems, all initially paid for by the state. The electronic-voting system made by Diebold Inc. will help Morgan County and Utah come into compliance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Utah is the only state that has committed to help pay for the initial purchase of equipment for its counties, according to a press release from Gov. Jon M. Huntsman's office. The state received $26.6 million in federal funding in order to comply with the HAVA Act; more than 90 percent of it will be spent on voting equipment.

According to the act, voting systems must notify a voter if he or she overvotes, allow voters to make corrections to ballots, produce a permanent paper record with manual audit capacity, accommodate disabled voters and provide alternative language accessibility.

In order to meet these federal guidelines released in mid-2005 and put the machines in place by Jan. 1, Utah had to begin the purchasing process before federal guidelines were clear. Utah required contractors to retrofit the equipment, ensuring federal standards were met.

Utah is in negotiations with its 29 counties and expects to announce Sept. 1 that every county is on board.

In approving the contract, Morgan County had to commit to setting money aside every year in case voting equipment must be repaired or replaced. The county's 33 touch-screen voting machines and two optical scan machines should last about 15 years, said Councilman Bruce Sanders.

Several members of the County Council are impressed by the new voting-machine system.

"I really liked it. They were very user-friendly," Sanders said. "They won't allow you to make a mistake."

"It's so much easier," said Councilwoman Lynette Stephens.

The county will make a new machine available for public viewing soon after it receives its shipment. Because no county elections are scheduled this year, the machines will not be put to the test anytime soon.

Nationwide, the Diebold voting machines have caused some uneasiness. To combat the perceived weaknesses, Utah has mandated that the new system produce a permanent paper record in case a manual count is needed.

But one of the highlights of the new machines is an instantaneous count, Sanders said. Five minutes after polls close, results can be announced because a laborious manual count will not be needed.