LAWRENCE COUNTY Commissioners plan to meet to explore voting machines

The electronic machines were estimated to cost $750,000 in 1999.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County commissioners plan to meet early next year with the one company authorized to sell touch-screen voting machines in Pennsylvania.
Commissioners authorized voting director Marlene Gabriel to set up meetings with distributors of the Patriot Voting System as soon as possible.
County officials have said they would like to institute the new form of voting soon, possibly by May.
Gabriel said there are several companies that make electronic voting machines, but the Patriot Voting System is the only one that the state has approved so far.
Commissioners brought up the idea of switching from the current paper ballots to electronic voting last week when they learned there was no longer replacement parts available for the county's optical scanner system, which tabulates the votes. The machines were purchased in 1985.
Less costly
Commissioners believe it might be less costly to buy electronic voting machines which would eliminate the cost of paper ballots and paying people to hand count write-in votes and feed ballots into the machines. Write-ins are actually typed into the system so they're registered immediately.
Gabriel said three other Pennsylvania counties have switched to electronic voting: Beaver, Mercer and Greene.
Commissioner Brian Burick said the Pittsburgh company that distributes the machines in Pennsylvania has indicated that they could be paid for over three to nine years. He added that in 1999 the county was told it would cost about $750,000 for an electronic voting system.
"I think financially it's a doable project without going out and getting a loan," he said. Burick said they would just dedicate money in the budget that would have been spent on manpower and paper ballots to paying for the new machines.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught suggested that the county look at consolidating some of its 106 voting precincts to help cut down the cost of electronic voting machines. Commissioners had formed a committee to look at consolidation about a year ago, but the project was stalled because state legislators were setting new boundaries for congressional districts.