TRUMBULL COUNTY Electronic voting won't be available this fall

This is the third time electronic voting has been delayed for Trumbull County.
STAFF/WIRE REPORT
WARREN -- Trumbull County will not be able to switch to electronic voting machines for the November election because of concerns about the machines' security, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell said.
Two other counties are also affected by Blackwell's decision: Hardin and Lorain, he announced Friday. All three counties had tentatively agreed to use voting machines made by North Canton-based Diebold Inc.
"There were some doubts in my mind that we were probably not going to go ahead with it," said Nick Melfi, a Democratic member of the Trumbull County board of elections. "We took precautions to make sure we had backup with the old paper ballots."
This will be the third time Blackwell has postponed implementation of the Diebold machines in Trumbull County.
The board of elections had initially planned to introduce the machines countywide in March, after a test run at four precincts in McDonald in the November general election.
Big turnout
"When we did it in McDonald we had the biggest turnout in the county precentagewise," said Craig Bonar, a Republican member of the elections board.
Voting machines have been on display at Republican and Democratic tents at the Trumbull County fair this week. Bonar said potential voters who tried the machines at his tent were pleased.
"I think the public is excited about it," he said. "We just need to get the machines certified with the state and federal levels."
Board of elections officials have repeatedly said they are confident in the machines' security.
Blackwell said his decision was based on a preliminary study of a second round of security tests. The first round found 57 problems, most security-related, in the machines made by the three vendors picked to supply them -- Diebold, Electronic Systems and Software, and Hart Intercivic.
Diebold was the only vendor to submit new software and hardware for retesting. Blackwell's office said the results of those tests would be released when the full study was complete.
Thirty-one counties had originally planned to replace their machines for this year's election, but most backed out as the election drew closer. Most of those counties use punch-card ballots, the type that plagued the Florida vote in the 2000 presidential election.
XCONTRIBUTOR: Stephen Siff of the Warren Bureau.