Wood County considers election equipment options

By PAMELA BRUST   The News and Sentinel    20 September 2005

PARKERSBURG - Wood County commissioners are considering election equipment options to comply with federal requirements, with costs ranging from $60,000 to more than $600,000.
All counties must notify Secretary of State Betty Ireland's office of their final decision by Oct. 15. Ireland announced last week Election Systems and Software (ES&S) has been ed as the new vendor for election equipment in West Virginia. State officials earlier announced the optical scan voting method would be the system of choice to comply with federal requirements.

Wood County is one of 28 counties currently using optical scan and purchased its equipment from ES&S. Twelve counties in West Virginia use punch cards , including Kanawha. Ten counties use paper ballots, two use touch screens and the remainder use the lever system.

Meeting with commissioners Monday, Wood County Clerk Jamie Six outlined some options.

"The least expensive would have a dual system out there where you would have touch screen for some voters and optical scan for others. That is probably also the most confusing to the voter," he said.

As part of the state program, using Help America Vote Act federal funds the state agreed to provide each county with one Direct Recording Electronic voting device (touch screen) per precinct. This equipment would come with headphones for the visually impaired and illiterate voters. The touch screen is to be Americans With Disabilities Act-compliant, but the machine could also be used by other voters as well.

Wood County has 85 precincts. These touch screen units cost $3,100 each. If counties opt to go touch screen, they must purchase at least one of the machines for every 250 voters. If Wood County chose to go totally touch screen, the cost would be $630,000 for the required number of machines.

The state also agreed to provide one Model 650 optical scan ballot counter to each county. Cost of these machines is $59,107 each. One will be provided by the state at no cost to the county. Wood County needs two. Six said he's been advised by ES&S that tabulators the county currently uses are not compatible with the Model 650.

"So even using this least expensive option, we are still looking at having to spend about $60,000 for an additional scanner," Six said.

"The other options are, if we want to go totally optical scan using the ADA AutoMark system that's available, the question we need to ask the state is can we not use the 650 money and apply it to the additional cost of the AutoMark system? If they want to go to the full touch screen, there again there would be some equipment we wouldn't need, so we need to ask if we could get some credits on that," Six noted.

The state has agreed to provide counties with the other equipment needed to convert to optical scan, which Wood County would not need if the county continues to use this method of voting. AutoMark is an ADA-version of optical scan, which uses instructions delivered through headphones to take the visually impaired through the process. Once they make their ions, the equipment marks the ballot for them based on their choices, Six explained.

"We really need to see the equipment before we make a final decision," Commissioner Rick Modesitt said.

Six said regulations require voters immediately be notified if they have overvoted, or undervoted, but counting votes at precincts currently is not permitted under state election laws.

"Many of the counties and the secretary of state have said they will ask the Legislature to make a change to allow precinct tabulation. Then the totals from the precincts would be sent to the courthouse for final tabulation election night," Six noted.

Cost of precinct-based scanners has been estimated at $4,000-$5,200 each. AutoMark terminals cost $5,872 each, according to the state. Wood County has 85 precincts, so the total would be close to $500,000.

The state is also making a revolving loan fund available for up to one-half the cost of equipment purchases.