Touch voting OK expected

By Rob Young  Yuba Appeal-Democrat    13 December 2005

Unless they vote absentee, Sutter County voters have seen their last paper ballot and pencil.

Supervisors are expected to vote Dec. 20 on Clerk-Recorder Joan Bechtel's recommendation to purchase 225 touch-screen voting machines manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems, the same type recently bought by Yuba County.

Orientation sessions will be held for voters before the machines are used for the first time in the June 2006 election. But using them should be simple for anyone accustomed to using a bank ATM machine, said Bechtel.

The machines will leave a ?paper trail? as required by the state Secretary of State's office and will tell voters if they've voted for too many candidates for one office or not enough, said Bechtel.

Sequoia's bid of $1.5 million was the highest of three bids received - but Sequoia is the only brand currently certified by the state, she said.

County officials also looked at machines made by Diebold Elections Systems and another firm, Election Systems & Software, neither of which is state-certified, said Bechtel.

The county held off until the last minute to see if Diebold's machines, which have had problems, would be certified, she said.

?I kind of felt it would've been nice if we had a choice,? she said.
   

Counties already using Sequoia systems said they are very satisfied with them, said Bechtel.

Sutter County expects to receive almost $1 million in state and federal grants to defray the cost. Supervisors will have to approve the remaining $500,000, plus another $100,000 per year for Sequoia technicians to maintain the new system, said Bechtel.

?This is not inexpensive,? she said.

The federal government is requiring handicapped-accessible machines by the next election. Sequoia's machines can be raised or lowered, have bright, easy-to-read screens and headphones for the hearing-impaired, she said.

The county expects to receive an $8,000 grant to help make polling places accessible. Some places that are not accessible could not be used in the last election, she said.

Improvements will include installing wire mesh screens over gravel parking lots, making them usable by voters in wheelchairs, she said.