For faster ballot results, it was all in the cards

Despite the glitches, though, Mahoning County election officials were pleased with the computerized system.
By IAN HILL
and DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- It was like John Henry against the steam-powered railroad tie machine.
On one side of the tracks was Mahoning County's new electronic voting system, consisting of sleek gray terminals that promised to spit out election results in no time flat.
On the other side was the punch-card system that many think will soon be a thing of the past. That system is used in Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
The two sides squared off Tuesday during an election that featured the highest turnout in recent memory.
When the dust cleared, John Henry was left standing tall as the steam-powered machine sputtered to the finish line. The final election results in Columbiana were available at 9:57 p.m. Trumbull's results were available at 10:26 p.m. The final results in Mahoning County came out at 11:40 p.m.
Complications
Mahoning County election officials expected to have results ready by 10 p.m. The delay stemmed from computer software problems and errors by election workers.
During the evening, election workers misplaced three of the personal election-ballot cartridges that contained the precinct voting results. One was left in the back of a poll worker's car in Austintown and was later retrieved by deputies.
The second was misplaced at the Mahoning County Board of Elections office; the third was found in the trunk of a poll worker's car in Boardman.
It was brought back to the board of elections office about 11:25 p.m., shortly after election officials fixed a software problem that had bogged down their computers. When the computers froze, election officials had to call the vendor of the voting system in Omaha, Neb., for assistance.
As officials worked on the software problems, reporters and campaign workers continued to call the board of elections office looking for election results. Tony Caldwell, a Youngstown State University sophomore known as "Mr. Rocktober," was responsible for answering the calls.
Caldwell, 21, of East Liverpool, earned the Mr. Rocktober title by winning a board of elections essay contest. About 10:30 p.m., he began to tell the reporters and campaign workers to call back in about 10 minutes for results.
That went on for about an hour.
Still pleased
Despite the problems, election officials felt the countywide debut of the electronic voting system was a success.
"Our polls were open on time; the votes were cast as they should have been," said Thomas McCabe, deputy director of the board of elections. Mark Monroe, board president, added, "The voters tried the system, and they liked it."
McCabe noted that "there's going to be some growing pains." He stressed, however, that election officials will be working to "tighten up" the system before the next election.
Some voters reported waiting for more than an hour to use the new electronic system.
The delays were caused by slightly larger turnout than expected, the unfamiliarity people had with the new systems and the length of the language for state Issue 1, said McCabe and Michael Sciortino, election board director.
"I watched people vote in Austintown Township Park, and they stood there reading the Issue 1 language," which was three pages, Sciortino said. "People took their time in the voting booth."
Voters complained about cramped quarters and long lines at The Rayen School in Youngstown, where turnout greatly exceeded expectations.
Crowded
Residents of three precincts that voted in the gymnasium of the recently demolished Harding Elementary School through last May's primary found themselves voting in a crowded and noisy gymnasium foyer at the adjacent Rayen School.
"It was rather lengthy and congested and confusing in terms of what line you're supposed to be in," said Deborah Benton, a North Side voter who spent almost an hour at the polling place. "We're a little spoiled, too, because we're used to being able to just go right in, and you were in and out in less than five minutes."
The board received calls about a problem with the review screen. The screen, which comes up once all selections are made but before all votes are registered, did not list the name of the gubernatorial candidate for whom a person voted. But election board officials said all gubernatorial votes were counted.
There were about a half-dozen machines that had to be taken offline for a while to fix minor problems with their screens, Sciortino said.
Getting more machines
Sciortino is optimistic that there will be federal funding shortly to pay for an extra voting machine at each of the county's 312 precincts. The cost for those machines would be more than $500,000, he said.
The new voting machines cost $2.9 million.
Monroe said he expects the counting process to be smoother and quicker in the next election.
Until then, the steam-powered machine will remain second fiddle to the tall, strong man with the hammer.
hill@vindy.comskolnick@vindy.com