Cuyahoga County will lease scanners to read paper ballots

CLEVELAND (AP) — Commissioners in the state’s largest county have voted to lease equipment needed to count votes at a central location for the March 4 presidential primary despite a legal challenge of the new system from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Cuyahoga County’s commissioners Thursday approved a $1.47 million lease through May 31. The county has an option to buy optical scanners to read paper ballots from Omaha, Neb.-based Election Systems & Software. The scanners will be used to tabulate votes gathered from various precincts to one location on election night.

The county’s elections director, Jane Platten, is overseeing a transition from electronic touch-screen voting to paper ballots with centralized counting.

The ACLU has asked a judge to prevent the switch to centralized counting, saying it doesn’t allow voters to correct mistakes. The group says such tabulation does not give voters notice of ballot errors — such as voting for two candidates for one office — at the precinct level, where they would be able to correct a ballot and prevent it from being discounted as invalid.

Two of the three commissioners voted for the lease. The county might consider a more extensive system for the general election in November that would scan votes at precincts, rather than centrally.

Absentee voting for the March primary opens Feb. 8. Voters in Cuyahoga County can vote absentee by mail or in person at the board of elections.