Political junkies need not be night owls

 
  
By MARKUS ERMISCH   Kamloops This Week   June 22 2005

Anxious observers of Kamloops politics can hit the sack earlier this election day than in past elections.
On Nov. 19, 19 electronic voting machines will help tabulate ballots.
To be on the safe side, the city has rented 21 of these machines, which were already used during the 2003 Tournament Capital facilities referendum.
Len Hrycan, the city's chief elections officer, said using the machines may shorten the day, and it may not drag out as long as in the past."
Although the city has budgeted $60,000 to rent the machines, Hrycan said there will be money left over.
Another advantage of using electronic voting machines is their accuracy and the fact that they reduce the number of spoiled ballots - once a voter feeds a spoiled ballot into the machine, it will immediately alert the voter that a mistake has been made in marking the ballot.
However, Hrycan added, recounts will not be avoided as they are required by law should a candidate demand one.
The City of Chilliwack will also use electronic ballot-counting machines in this year's municipal election.
This method is in common use in many other municipal jurisdictions in B.C.," the city's website states. The system ensures that ballots are less subject to tampering and removes a degree of human error from the election process."
The City of Richmond has been using electronic voting machines for several years.
I can't think of any cons," said David Weber, Richmond's director of the city clerk's office. They made the process efficient and streamlined."
About 15 years ago, he said, Richmond had purchased 38 machines, which have replaced manual vote counting completely.
It does cut down dramatically on [election] staff," he said.
Within 45 minutes of the polls closing, Weber said, the results are tabulated.
Voters in Richmond adopted quickly once the new technology was implemented.
Voters responded quite well," Weber said. They are easier to use than an automated banking machine."
Although there is no wrong way to stick the ballot into the slot, Weber said an elections official is always on hand to help a person who has difficulties using the electronic voting machine.