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Voting Machines Make Debut: Touch-Screen System Proves Easy to Use but Lacks Paper Trail

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 06:07 CDT

By Anne Danahy, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

May 17--A popular newcomer in Tuesday's primary election appeared to cross party lines and appealed to voters throughout Centre County.

Touch-screen voting machines made their debut in the county, alongside an optical-scan system that uses more traditional paper ballots. Elections workers said that aside from a few hiccups, both systems ran smoothly.

The county leased the iVotronic touch-screens and optical-scan paper ballot counters to meet federal elections requirements. While the League of Women Voters and other groups had spoken against the touch-screen systems as lacking a paper trail, voters Tuesday seemed ready to welcome a new era of electronic voting.

"It was easy," said Michael Pavone, who voted at Bellefonte West. "I'm computer illiterate, and it was easy."

While some voters said they'd like to have a system that creates a paper trail that could be confirmed and recounted, it didn't necessarily stop them from using the touch-screen iVotronic system.

Bellefonte West voters Frank and Donna Clemson both tried the iVotronic touch-screens even though the lack of a paper trail was a concern.

"I'd like to have proof that I voted," Frank Clemson said.

Because of concerns over the electronic system's lack of a paper trail, county commissioners decided to lease the optical-scan systems, in which a paper ballot is filled out and then read by a scanner. But they also leased enough touch-screen machines -- often compared to the system used to order a sandwich at a convenience store -- to put one in each precinct. Voters were able to choose which system they wanted to use in Tuesday's primary election.

According to poll workers, even more voters might have given the touch-screens a test run had it not meant waiting in line.

"A lot of them want to do the touch-screen, but we only have one so they say: 'OK. Give me paper,'" said Judy Sartore, judge of elections in Ferguson North 1.

Voters in other polling stations felt the same way.

"I used the paper ballot because I'm in a hurry," said Jim Walker, of College Township.

But John Doren, another College Township voter, stuck with paper out of worries that touch-screen systems can be tampered with.

"The more paper trail that's available, the safer they are right now," Doren said.

Joyce McKinley, director of elections, said there were some minor problems Tuesday, but overall everything went well. One precinct, for example, was without a touch-screen machine after poll workers found the one they had was not programmed for the correct station.

"We're quite satisfied with the way it's going," McKinley said Tuesday afternoon.

The results appeared to be posted at a somewhat slower rate than in past elections, as poll workers adjusted to the new machines.

The federal Help America Vote Act was passed after voting problems in the 2000 election. The act requires handicapped-accessible voting machines and systems that tell voters if they've picked too many candidates for an office.

The county Board of Commissioners, saying they felt rushed to make a too-hasty decision, decided to lease rather than buy machines for use in Tuesday's election.

Poll workers said while some voters initially seemed nervous about voting with the touch-screens, there weren't problems once they tried them.

"After they do it, they all seem surprised at how easy it is," said Barbara Shultz, minority inspector at Bellefonte North.

Anne Danahy can be reached at 231-4648.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

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Source: Centre Daily Times (State College, Pa.)

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