TRUMBULL COUNTY Officials praise voting machines' trial

Ballots will be recounted in four November races.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A test run of new computer voting machines at four precincts in the November election was a success, drawing additional voters to the polls and sending them away as satisfied customers, elections officials said.
During the election, nearly 1,200 voters in McDonald cast ballots using touch-screen machines which are expected to be in use throughout the county for the presidential primary in March.
The federal government will foot the bill for the machines, which cost $2,600 apiece.
"The surprise was that they were easy to use," said Mike Clarett, Northeast Ohio field representative for the Ohio secretary of state, who observed McDonald polling. "The system was very user-friendly."
Clarett said he interviewed 30 voters Election Day, none of whom had complaints about the system, produced by Diebold Co. of Canton.
Turnout in McDonald was about 50 percent of registered voters, higher than the 45 percent countywide average.
Close races
Four races on the November ballot finished close enough to trigger recounts by the Trumbull County Board of Elections.
The board will meet at 10 a.m. Dec. 2 to tally ballots for a second time by machine in races for Hubbard council at large and boards of education in Niles, Bloomfield-Mesopotamia and Southington. In each race, fewer than 12 votes separated winners from losers.
Officials say they do not remember the last time a recount changed the outcome of a local election.
At a meeting Monday, the board voted to reject 23 provisional ballots cast by people who were not registered to vote.
To vote in the March election, voters must register by Feb. 2.
siff@vindy.com