Officials approve buying touch-screen vote machines

The county will buy 275 machines.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Lawrence County voters will be touching a screen rather than using a pencil to cast ballots in May.
County commissioners agreed to buy the iVotronic machines from Election Systems & amp; Software Inc. of Omaha, Neb., for the primary election. The county previously has used paper ballots tabulated by an optical-scan machine.
"I'm very happy now. We can move on," said elections director Marlene Gabriel after the vote was taken Tuesday.
Commissioners had not been able to come to a consensus for months. A motion made just last week by Commissioner Ed Fosnaught to buy the touch-screen voting machines died when Commissioner Steve Craig voted no and Commissioner Dan Vogler abstained.
Vogler said Tuesday he decided to go with touch-screen machines.
"In the two years I've been here this is one of the most challenging decisions I've had to make. It has far-reaching impact because thousands of people vote," he said.
Stated conditions
Vogler asked that four conditions be met for touch-screen voting: the machines must be retrofitted for verified paper trail if state and federal officials approve that version; comprehensive training for poll workers; extensive pre-election voter education in the county; and that ES & amp;S provide enough trouble shooters on election day if there are problems.
Craig voted against the motion. He had favored keeping the paper ballots, but having them tallied at the voting precincts. Craig had wanted a separate AutoMark system for handicapped voters. That system has yet to be certified in Pennsylvania, however.
Fosnaught has been advocating the touch-screen system since a citizens' committee created by the commissioners recommended it.
Fosnaught said he did not want paper ballots because the county would still be forced to buy a second type of voting system for the handicapped. He said it would be confusing for poll workers to have two different systems, and he didn't like the idea that votes cast by the handicapped would differ from those of able-bodied voters.
Gabriel said the county will order 169 regular iVotronic machines and 106 iVotronic machines that have additional equipment to help the handicapped vote.
The county will get nearly $1 million from the federal government through the Help America Vote Act. The grant will pay for the machines and leave more than $100,000 extra for voter education, machine storage and maintenance.
Gabriel said the company has assured her the machines will be in place by the May 16 primary election.
cioffi@vindy.com