August 13, 2004

Marion places faith in voting machines

County leases iVotronic equipment for election

BY EVELYN RYAN
The Dominion Post

Marion County Commissioner Alan Parks has a different definition of what makes a successful election.

A successful election, he said, is one that gets you home early.

"For the primary in May, I was up 26 hours," he recalled. "That was not a successful election."

But Parks -- and the rest of Marion County's election staff -- are hoping for a better result this fall. The commission agreed to lease about 200 iVotronic electronic touch-screen voting machines for the Nov. 2 election -- joining Cabell County as the only all-electronic voters in the Mountain State.

"It's going to be nice to be home before 8 o'clock the next night," Parks said. With new equipment involved, he recognized that it could be early morning Nov. 3 -- the day after Election Day -- before things are wrapped up. But that's better than later tha t day in the middle of the afternoon, he said.

Preston County plans to continue with its optical scanner system, Commissioner Dave Price said. "We know we'll have to do something in time, but we want to let the dust settle, let the marketplace decide," he said. Preston Commissioner Vicki Cole agreed.

iVotronic systems are used in Monongalia County for early voting, and have earned the praise of Circuit Clerk Jean Friend, who brought them into the county.

Neither county official seems concerned about the potential for tampering with the system, one of two major concerns voiced nationally about such voting machines.

Secretary of State Joe Manchin has been vocal about the second concern, which is the ability of the voter to see a paper printout of their vote before pushing the button locking their choices into the machine.

Federal authorities have yet to say what system they want the public to use. That's why West Virginia counties are being advised to lease electronic machines until a final decision is made, reported Cindy Smith, election team leader, secretary of state's office.

Dealers of iVotronic machines and their emerging rival, Diebold, pitched their equipment to counties at the recent county commissioners' training session at the Radisson.

Danny Cline of Casto and Harris doesn't see either point as an issue. Cline handles the iVotronic.

The ballots, he said, are loaded in a cartridge similar to that used in video games by the manufacturer, ESS, in Omaha, Neb., based on the ballot information sent by counties.

It's not possible to manipulate the votes once they are stored in the voting machine, Cline said. "They're stored in three different places once the vote goes in. This equipment has been manufactured for 15 years and we haven't lost a vote yet."

As for a paper ballot printout, it wasn't an issue until the federal government raised the question, he said.

Marion and Preston voters will be faced with write-in candidacies this fall. iVotronic machines allow the voter to type the name in using a "keyboard" screen with letters in alphabetical order.

Diebold machines use a regular typewriter keyboard screen for write-in votes, noted Ron Pugh of Dayton Legal Blank's Buckhannon office, Diebold's West Virginia distributor.

Diebold machines offer several differences from the iVotronic, he said. This system allows the person in charge of the ballots in a county to create an official ballot to load in the machines. A second card, similar to a credit card, is used to activate the ballot for the voter.

Pugh was the Upshur county clerk for 17 years before becoming a salesman. He's familiar with the strange things people will do to a ballot.

"You'd be surprised at the number of people who turn in a blank ballot," he said. "They want the record to show they voted, but they don't want to vote for anybody."

The Diebold machine allows for that situation, he said. It also has special provisions for when there is a recount, Pugh said. It will print out a hard copy of each ballot voted, in random order so the voter isn't identified, for a hand count.

"As far as giving the voter a paper printout, it doesn't do it," he said. "I don't believe the majority of the public actually wants a printout."