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Counties should seek public input on what kind of new
voting machines to use.
Star-Gazette Editorial
July 7, 2005
Here are the estimated savings in local counties if they
select optical scan voting machines over the touch-screen models:
# Chemung: $531,880.
# Schuyler: $14,120.
# Steuben: $335,640.
# Tioga: $16,820.
# Yates: $51,300.
Get ready to say goodbye to those old lever-style voting
machines. Starting next year, they will be antiques of democracy.
What will replace them? That's a decision county boards of
elections will make. But before they decide between paper or touch screen,
county officials ought to test public reaction to the new equipment available.
The New York Legislature in its just-concluded session gave
counties the right to choose between the optical scan and touch screen machines
rather than dictate a one-machine-fits-all policy. For optical scan proponents
such as Bo Lipari of New Yorkers for Verifiable Voters, having a choice is a
chance for him to make a convincing case for scannable paper ballots that go
through machines taking up less space and costing less than touch screen
models.
For many counties where storage is an issue, the optical
scan is a good choice. In Chemung where as many as five voting precincts use
one building, a single optical scan machine can do the work of five touch
screen models plus the system retains a paper record of each vote.
But touch screen advocates, many of whom are experienced at
running elections, cite more privacy, speed of voting, lower printing costs and
less storage of paper ballots as reasons to go with the touch screen versions.
New Yorkers for Verifiable Voters have done some math that
make a compelling argument for optical scan. In Chemung and Steuben counties
combined, the group estimates optical scan machines would cost the state about
$900,000 less and statewide could save about $82 million if every county used
them.
However, each county has the freedom to decide on whether
voters will mark a piece of paper or put their finger to a glass screen. That
choice is what we recommended during the legislative session, and now that
counties have that power, they should use it wisely by doing some field
research before the 2006 elections when these machines are likely to show up.
Demonstrations at shopping malls or even at polling places
this fall could give county officials a sense of what machines voters prefer.
With that feedback, they can decide what best suits their local voters, county
budgets and storage facilities.
Try before buying. It's good way to make a smarter choice.
Star-Gazette.COM
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