TRUMBULL COUNTY Blackwell delays electronic voting

The new voting machines are expected to be used countywide in August.
WARREN -- Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell has ordered counties to put off using new electronic voting machines bought with state and federal funds until after the March primary.
As a result of the decision, Trumbull County will continue using punch-card ballots for at least one more election.
Blackwell has identified the August 2004 special elections as the first scheduled use of the new systems.
County boards of elections that still use punch-card machines are being required to replace them this year.
The cost of the transition is being paid by the federal and state governments.
Selected counties, including Trumbull, had planned to switch to the new machines by the March primary. Mahoning County already has electronic voting.
Security concerns
However, Blackwell delayed the move Tuesday, after an examination uncovered security concerns in the machines produced by four vendors, including Diebolt Inc. of North Canton, Trumbull County's choice.
"In order to maintain a strong public confidence in our elections systems, voters must be assured that the security risks uncovered in our reviews have been addressed and resolved," Blackwell said in a press release.
Trumbull County officials have already ordered punch-card ballots to use in the March primary, said board director Norma Williams.
The county's two ballot counting machines will be serviced before the primary, she said.
One of the aging devices quit on election night in November.
"We will say a little prayer and hope they make it," Williams said.