HOPEWELL Machines will be available for the November election

BY ANDREW PRICE
Richmond TIMES-DISPATCH
Sep 21, 2005

Touch-screen voting coming soon
 

It's as simple as pressing the screen.

Starting with this year's elections, Hopewell voters will have new voting machines that should help make casting ballots simpler.

The computerized machines use a touch-screen method.

"I like it. I think it is very easy to use," said Hopewell's registrar, Pamala L. Clark.

"Our dinosaurs [old machines], which I love . . . were difficult, and it was hard physically to move the lever."

The new voting machines are part of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which mandates that punch-card and lever-style voting machines be replaced.

The federal government picked up most of Hopewell's $130,000 cost for the city's new machines. Hopewell bought eight central units for each of its polling locations, and three to five voting terminals for each location. People vote at the terminals, which are hooked up to the central units. Voters can see their ions on screen and correct errors before ballots are cast.

Clark said some people have concerns about the security of the new machines. But they are not accessible to the Internet, she said, so ballots cannot be tampered with. And the machines count only one ballot at a time.

Initially, voters may need to adjust to the new machines and become familiar with operating them. That could slow the process, she said.

Clark encourages groups and organizations to call her to provide a demonstration. Or, individuals can stop by the registrar's office for a preview.

Local races in Hopewell this November will include sheriff, commonwealth's attorney, treasurer and commissioner of the revenue.