Cuyahoga County officials preparing for election

In seven weeks, for the March 4 primary, voters will be using a new voting system.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Ohio’s presidential primary may be seven weeks away, but the elections chief in Ohio’s most-populated county is busy preparing for a new voting system and finding a company to show voters how to use it.

The Cuyahoga County Board of Elections also must set up vote-counting equipment in a warehouse — all under the eye of Jane Platten, the executive director.

“And, of course,” Platten said, “I want it all done now.”

This is Platten’s first major election since taking over the system in June, after Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner replaced the entire four-member board.

Brunner, Ohio’s chief elections official, ordered a change in voting systems about three weeks ago. With absentee voting starting in less than a month, time is not on Platten’s side.

Platten, who created 365-task list to complete for the March 4 primary, is considered a precise planner and an attentive leader. She has the trust of the board members, but there are concerns about the time shortage. “That’s the challenge,” said board Chairman Jeff Hastings.

In 2006, county voters first voted on touch-screen machines. The board had nearly a year to prepare, but the election still was a headache, with final results delayed nearly a week.

Sloppy pre-election planning and a stubborn elections director, Michael Vu, were among the culprits, according to a review panel that investigated what went wrong.

Platten has been open to suggestions and invited elections workers outside the management team to a recent strategy session because they had extensive experience with the old punch-card system. Platten wanted their advice because the county’s new system marks a return to paper ballots.

Platten, who had headed the board’s administrative services since 2004, was chosen to replace Vu, who resigned in February 2007.

On March 4, voters will fill out paper ballots with pens at nearly 600 polling places in the county. The ballots will be taken to the board’s warehouse where they will be read by 15 optical scanners. Previously, votes have been counted at board of elections offices.

Platten decided to move the location of the counting because the warehouse has more space.

To make room in the warehouse, about 5,000 touch-screen machines were moved elsewhere. A long-term decision about the machines’ future hasn’t been made. But Brunner wants the whole state to switch to optical scan by November. Currently, 57 of Ohio’s 88 counties use touch-screen machines, but Brunner cited security concerns in ordering the switch.

Workers were loading the touch-screen machines into vans while Platten gave a recent tour of the warehouse. She was asked if she learned anything from the first election with touch screens.

“I don’t really want to go there,” she said. “I want to look forward, not back.”