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Blondin observes new voting machines
KARSTEN STRAUSS, Register Citizen Staff11/19/2005
  

SOUTHBURY - Former Secretary of the State candidate Audrey Blondin attended a demonstration of new electronic voting machines in Southbury town hall Friday.


Put on by the office of Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewizc?s office, the demonstration showcased three different machines that guests and elected officials could try out and rate in a survey, Blondin said.


Demonstrations have been going on all week in each of Connecticut?s five congressional districts, she explained.

"There were three machines and two werein my personal opinion as a former candidate for secretary of the statereally not viable options," Blondin said. "They were very complicated and they were very very different from what the public is used to as far as voting."

The two machines were both touch-screen oriented and required a special key-card for each voter, she explained.

"It looked to me (like there would be) tremendous privacy issues in the two touch-screen monitor machines," she said.

The third machine was more user friendly as it resembled an absentee ballot where voters could touch the ballot where it indicated the desired candidate.

"It was a good product and it was manufactured by the Danaher Company," Blondin said. "They?re Connecticut-based out of Simsbury."

All states are under mandate to move towards an all-electronic voting system as per the Help America Vote Act following the 2000 presidential election, Blondin said.

"My personal position was, is and continues to be if it?s not broke, don?t fix it," Blondin said. "Our lever voting machines have worked very well for more than 50 years."

The average cost of an electronic voting machine is $7,000 to $9,000 and the life span of such a machine is five to seven years, she said.

"If you?re looking to have to replace all of your machines every five to seven years at an average cost of $8,000 plus, towns can?t afford this," Blondin said.

Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz was on hand at the demonstration but could not be reached for comment Friday.



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