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Machines getting a close look |
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Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
Arkansas election officials say they aren’t expecting the problems that plagued the state’s new touch-screen electronic voting machines two years ago, but the machines are being tested to make sure they will be working correctly for the state’s Feb. 5 presidential primary election.
Saline County Clerk Freddy Burton and employees in his office are joining other county clerk employees in the state as they prepare and test the touch-screen electronic voting machines.
“You have to do a logic and accuracy test on each machine for every election,” Burton said. “You’re making sure the machine is doing what it’s supposed to do and making sure the ballot is correct on that machine.”
It’s no simple process, he said.
“We have to pull up the Democrat, Republican and Green Party ballots on each machine,” he explained. “You have to go through and check and make sure it’s recording each candidate.
“We’ve been doing this for the last week or so,” Burton said.
The process takes several minutes for each machine, so the entire testing can be time-consuming, the clerk said.
“The punch cards were a lot simpler,” he said in reference to the former system.
“Elections have gotten more complicated since I started 15 years ago,” burton said. Everything was simple then, but the increased technology has changed a lot of things. And instead of saving time, it has made it more complicated and time-consuming.”
Saline County will use about 10 of the machines for early voting and will send out another 35 to the polling sites for the visually impaired, Burton said. “Other voters use optical-scan paper ballots at the polling sites. We bring those back and count them here like we did the punch cards.”
Early voting for the primary election is scheduled to begin Jan. 29.
On Tuesday, Pulaski County officials reportedly began testing the roughly 160 electronic voting machines the state’s largest county will use during early voting and on election day for the presidential primary. County election coordinator Susan Inman said testing on the machines would take several days, but didn’t anticipate any major problems with the equipment.
“We’re in pretty good shape so far,” Inman said.
Election officials around the state are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2006, when equipment and tabulation delays plagued the May primary and June runoff, the first major tests of equipment that was supposed to ease the voting process.
Instead, the equipment led to a review from an outside consultant and a $388,000 credit from Election Systems & Software, the Omaha, Neb., vendor that contracted with the state to provide the electronic machines and software for the elections.
“The first time we got those things, we didn’t know what we were doing and they didn’t either,” said Wesley Freemyer, chairman of the Phillips County election commission.
Larry Clarke, chairman of the Lonoke County election commission, said he hoped to begin testing within the next week. Clarke said he had initially complained about the electronic machines but said he’s grown more comfortable with them and seen an improvement in service from the private company.
“It’s almost like they’ve done a 180,” Clarke said.
The machines were used in the 2006 general election and two school board elections statewide .
“We’ve have had five statewide elections on the new equipment,” Deputy Secretary of State Janet Harris said. “I think that’s helped everyone become more comfortable and familiar with the technology.”
Several counties, including Pulaski, chose to program electronic ballots for the machines themselves rather than rely on ES&S, a step that Inman said has improved the process.
More than 3,900 touch-screen machines will be used in the Feb. 5 primary, the first time the state’s presidential contest has been held this early.
Lawmakers decided to move the presidential primary earlier to give the state more influence in the presidential contest, but Secretary of State Charlie Daniels and Gov. Mike Beebe have questioned whether the state will have more pull. More than 20 other states are also holding their presidential primaries on the same day as Arkansas.
Natasha Naragon, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, said it’s too early for Daniels to offer a prediction on turnout. Naragon, however, pointed out that the state saw a flood of voter registration applications filed Monday, the deadline to register for the primary.
Monday, the state received 1,738 applications. That far eclipsed the 1,416 who registered in January 2007, Naragon said.
In Saline County, Burton said he expects a large turnout.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.Arkansas election officials say they aren’t expecting the problems that plagued the state’s new touch-screen electronic voting machines two years ago, but the machines are being tested to make sure they will be working correctly for the state’s Feb. 5 presidential primary election.
Saline County Clerk Freddy Burton and employees in his office are joining other county clerk employees in the state as they prepare and test the touch-screen electronic voting machines.
“You have to do a logic and accuracy test on each machine for every election,” Burton said. “You’re making sure the machine is doing what it’s supposed to do and making sure the ballot is correct on that machine.”
It’s no simple process, he said.
“We have to pull up the Democrat, Republican and Green Party ballots on each machine,” he explained. “You have to go through and check and make sure it’s recording each candidate.
“We’ve been doing this for the last week or so,” Burton said.
The process takes several minutes for each machine, so the entire testing can be time-consuming, the clerk said.
“The punch cards were a lot simpler,” he said in reference to the former system.
“Elections have gotten more complicated since I started 15 years ago,” burton said. Everything was simple then, but the increased technology has changed a lot of things. And instead of saving time, it has made it more complicated and time-consuming.”
Saline County will use about 10 of the machines for early voting and will send out another 35 to the polling sites for the visually impaired, Burton said. “Other voters use optical-scan paper ballots at the polling sites. We bring those back and count them here like we did the punch cards.”
Early voting for the primary election is scheduled to begin Jan. 29.
On Tuesday, Pulaski County officials reportedly began testing the roughly 160 electronic voting machines the state’s largest county will use during early voting and on election day for the presidential primary. County election coordinator Susan Inman said testing on the machines would take several days, but didn’t anticipate any major problems with the equipment.
“We’re in pretty good shape so far,” Inman said.
Election officials around the state are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2006, when equipment and tabulation delays plagued the May primary and June runoff, the first major tests of equipment that was supposed to ease the voting process.
Instead, the equipment led to a review from an outside consultant and a $388,000 credit from Election Systems & Software, the Omaha, Neb., vendor that contracted with the state to provide the electronic machines and software for the elections.
“The first time we got those things, we didn’t know what we were doing and they didn’t either,” said Wesley Freemyer, chairman of the Phillips County election commission.
Larry Clarke, chairman of the Lonoke County election commission, said he hoped to begin testing within the next week. Clarke said he had initially complained about the electronic machines but said he’s grown more comfortable with them and seen an improvement in service from the private company.
“It’s almost like they’ve done a 180,” Clarke said.
The machines were used in the 2006 general election and two school board elections statewide .
“We’ve have had five statewide elections on the new equipment,” Deputy Secretary of State Janet Harris said. “I think that’s helped everyone become more comfortable and familiar with the technology.”
Several counties, including Pulaski, chose to program electronic ballots for the machines themselves rather than rely on ES&S, a step that Inman said has improved the process.
More than 3,900 touch-screen machines will be used in the Feb. 5 primary, the first time the state’s presidential contest has been held this early.
Lawmakers decided to move the presidential primary earlier to give the state more influence in the presidential contest, but Secretary of State Charlie Daniels and Gov. Mike Beebe have questioned whether the state will have more pull. More than 20 other states are also holding their presidential primaries on the same day as Arkansas.
Natasha Naragon, a spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office, said it’s too early for Daniels to offer a prediction on turnout. Naragon, however, pointed out that the state saw a flood of voter registration applications filed Monday, the deadline to register for the primary.
Monday, the state received 1,738 applications. That far eclipsed the 1,416 who registered in January 2007, Naragon said.
In Saline County, Burton said he expects a large turnout.
The Associated Press contributed to this story. |
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