Montgomery County to get new voting machines

 By Sebastian Kitchen    Montgomery Advertiser   27 September 2005

Montgomery County voters have been using the same machines for 25 years, but that will change during the next election.

Montgomery County Commissioners voted to begin using optical scan equipment, where voters mark their choice on a ballot instead of entering it into an electronic machine. After the end of the voting day, the marked ballots are run through a machine that counts the marks and tabulates the votes in each race.

The commissioners chose the optical scan equipment over touch screen voting machines.

Montgomery County officials are working to become compliant with the Help American Vote Act by the Jan. 1. 2006, deadline.

The optical scans are compliant because there is a paper trail. The current county system is not compliant with the federal act because there is not a paper trail and the votes can not be tabulated again in the event of a recount.

Montgomery County is one of three counties in the state that is not compliant with the act and does not have the paper trail.

Commissioners voted for the county to send information to 14 companies to allow them to turn in proposals to the county for a voting system.

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