http://www.citizensvoice.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18598127&BRD=2259&PAG=461&dept_id=455154&rfi=6
07/18/2007
By Michael P. Buffer
Staff Writer
WILKES-BARRE — Luzerne County wants a warranty for another
three years on touch-screen voting machines bought last year, but “the price is
not right,” Director of Elections Leonard Piazza said Tuesday.
Election Systems & Software wants the county to pay
between $275,000 and $322,000 for a three-year warranty, Piazza said. The
county last year spent $2.4 million in federal money to buy 750 ES&S
machines, and a one-year warranty has either expired or will expire this year.
The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania is
trying to resolve the cost issue with ES&S for Luzerne County and 32 other
counties in the state, Piazza said.
ES&S spokeswoman Amanda Brown said company prices
reflect “the cost of providing quality elections systems and services.”
Piazza didn’t attend Tuesday’s board of elections meeting
because he was involved in a conference call about the warranty issue.
During the meeting, Commissioner Rose Tucker was named board
chairwoman. Tucker, who replaced Todd Vonderheid as a commissioner last month,
will succeed Vonderheid as chair of the board of elections.
Also during the meeting, Walter Griffith, the Republican
nominee for Wilkes-Barre City Council’s District A seat, asked the board to
request an investigation by the district attorney’s office into Democratic
nominee Rick Cronauer’s campaign finances.
Griffith alleges Cronauer reported erroneous and
inconsistent campaign finance reports, and he said letting Cronauer amend
mistakes without a penalty sets a bad precedent.
mbuffer@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2073
©The Citizens Voice 2007
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