New machines will await voters in Tuesday's election

By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- During Tuesday's general election, voters in McDonald will use the new computerized voting machines that all Trumbull County voters are expected to be using in the March presidential primary.
The Trumbull County Board of Elections is required to replace all of its punch-card voting machines by the presidential election in 2004.
The touch-screen computers they will be replacing them with will reduce the number of mistaken votes, officials say. They offer such features as big-print screens for weak eyes and special keypads and earphones for people who are blind.
And they are easy to use, say poll workers introduced to the machines at a training session Thursday.
"Beforehand, people are nervous, but after they have done it, it is a piece of cake," said board employee Allan Banner, who has demonstrated the machines at civic club meetings and candidate nights over the past several months.
What they're like
The machines, manufactured by Canton-based Diebold Co. and paid for by the federal government, resemble ATM machines, or the computers you can use to order sandwiches in some supermarkets.
"It was very nice," said poll worker Gerry Muckridge after trying a machine for the first time.
The process for voters on election day will remain nearly the same.
After checking in with a poll worker and signing a registry, voters will be handed a card about the size of a credit card.
After the card is pushed into a slot in one of the $2,600 machines, directions pop up on the screen. Voters touch boxes to indicate which candidates they want. The machines allow voters to change their votes and review their ballots before they are officially cast.
Stored on card
At the end of the day, poll workers will collect a memory card from the back of each machine and deliver it to the board of elections so results can be tabulated.
Curiosity about the new machines, as well as a hot mayoral race, will likely draw more voters to McDonald's single polling station, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, poll worker Anita Smith said.
"They will all be looking for help," she said. "We'll get to see a lot of people."