Friday, February 17, 2006
Each commissioner wants a different voting system.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- As the election looms in a little more than 12 weeks, Lawrence County commissioners have still not decided on a voting system.
They must have a new system in place by the May 16 primary election or risk losing a federal grant of nearly $1 million.
A two-hour meeting Thursday that included a conference call to an election machine vendor could not break the indecision among the commissioners. Each wants a different system.
Commissioner Ed Fosnaught tried to force the issue by making a motion that the county go with touch-screen voting and buy machines from Election Software & amp; Systems.
The motion was defeated when Commissioner Steve Craig voted no and Commissioner Dan Vogler abstained. Fosnaught voted for his motion.
Different opinions
Vogler has said he wants a paper ballot with a centralized count, similar to the current optical scan system. By taking that approach, the county will lose most of the $1 million federal grant it was given to comply with the Help America Vote Act.
The county will still be required to implement a second voting system that is accessible to the handicapped.
Craig wants paper ballots that are tallied by optical scanners at each precinct, and AutoMark system by ES & amp;S for the handicapped. AutoMark, however, has not received state certification.
Fosnaught wants touch screen.
Commissioners delayed voting on the issue earlier in the week because of a judge's ruling on a Westmoreland County lawsuit. The judge ruled that the county was not exempt from the state constitution, which required a referendum vote on electronic voting before a county could use that system.
Lawrence County Solicitor Tom Leslie said that matter should not affect Lawrence County because it passed a referendum approving electronic voting in 1982 before starting to use the optical scan tally system. Leslie said that vote was sufficient for the county to now go to touch-screen voting.
Voting Director Marlene Gabriel urged commissioners to buy touch-screen machines, which will be fully funded under a HAVA grant. After the machines are bought, the county will have $113,000 left for voter education and other expenses.
Money in peril
Using any other system or combination of systems would reduce the grant amount and require local tax dollars to pay for a portion of the new equipment.
Vogler said he wanted to reserve the right to call a special meeting after getting information from ES & amp;S that he requested during a conference call with a company salesman.
Gabriel has said ES & amp;S has promised it can deliver touch-screen machines by the primary if a decision is made this week.
cioffi@vindy.com