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NY scraps updating voting machines, now faces scramble to
save federal funds at risk after deadline passes
BY JAMES T. MADORE
STAFF WRITER
February 22, 2006
State elections officials have scrapped plans to install new
voting machines throughout Long Island and New York City in time for this
year's contests, forcing a scramble to prevent the loss of $220 million in
federal funds for the new technology.
New York State missed the Jan. 1 deadline for complying with
a federal election-reform law that was adopted four years ago after Florida's
vote-counting debacle cast doubt on the 2000 presidential election.
Wrangling in Albany over how to implement the new law
dragged on until last summer - and the state Board of Elections has yet to
narrow the choices that counties will have in ordering voting machines.
So area residents who vote in the Sept. 12 primary and Nov.
7 general elections will make their selections on the same antique lever
machines that their great grandparents may have used, officials said. The lever
technology was first demonstrated in 1892 in Lockport.
"In all likelihood, in the large jurisdictions of the
state, we will still see lever voting machines in 2006 but this probably will
be the last time," said Douglas A. Kellner, co-chairman of the elections
board.
In a related move, the board plans in coming weeks to lay
out options to the counties on how to ensure that the disabled can cast their
ballots without asking for help, he said. With the old voting machines, some
levers are beyond the reach of people in wheelchairs and the blind cannot read
the ballot.
By instituting these changes for the September primary, the
state would comply with a key component of the federal Help America Vote Act of
2002 - and possibly strengthen its position against a future lawsuit, which the
Justice Department threatened to file last month.
"We aren't in compliance now, but the real question
that a federal court has to deal with is, 'Are you doing everything you can to
get into compliance?' " said Kellner. "We, the state board, are going
to do this right the first time, even if it means it is going to be late."
Justice Department spokesman Eric Holland declined to
comment on whether the disabled accommodation would fend off a lawsuit or
safeguard the federal funds.
New York became the last state to adopt election-reform
regulations. Other states have adopted such regulations but nearly half have
delayed rolling out new voting equipment or voter registration databases, both
of which are required under the federal law, according to a survey by the
nonpartisan electionline.org.
State legislators, while acknowledging they contributed to
New York's tardiness, criticized the state elections board for postponing the
installation of new machines. "I don't want to see any step back,"
said Senate Elections Committee Chairman John J. Flanagan (R-East Northport).
"I'm not excusing what happened in the legislature, but [the state
elections] board haven't exactly killed themselves by getting together as
frequently as they could have to work on this."
Debate rages, meanwhile, in the counties over which
technology to use: optical scanners, which resemble school-testing equipment;
or electronic touch-screen machines, similar to automatic-teller machines.
A subcommittee of the Nassau County Board of Elections
reviewed nine machines, finding the optical scanners would need to be modified
to meet state law, which requires that the entire ballot be visible at once.
The panel found prices range between $5,000 and $9,500 per machine; nearly
11,000 devices will be needed in Long Island and New York City.
The League of Women Voters of Suffolk County said the cost
of optical scanners is less than half that of touch-screen units. In addition,
when scanners are used, the voter generates a paper ballot that could help in
recounts - one of the reasons that good-government groups cite for endorsing
the technology.
Some groups have blasted the state Legislature for mandating
that boards of election, rather than county legislatures that are accountable
to voters, choose which machines to buy."It's going to be back-door
politics that decides this and that's wrong," said Lisa Tyson of the Long
Island Progressive Coalition.
In Suffolk, GOP elections commissioner Robert Garfinkle
pledged to seek public comment before purchasing new machines, saying,
"The public has confidence in us and we're not going to do anything to
jeopardize that."
Replacing the lever
Voting, by the numbers
Nassau Suffolk New
York City
Registered voters 900,000 927,000 4.3 million
Lever voting machines 1,500 1,723 7,639
Polling sites 432 350 1,360
Election-day poll workers 4,534 7,089 30,000
Electronic and optical scan are the preferred methods to
replace lever machines. Metro-area counties are at various stages in the
process. Nassau has examined options from several companies along with
estimated costs.
ELECTRONIC
What it is: Touch-screen interface, similar to an ATM
How it's used: Voters touch marked areas, which change
colors to reflect the choices. Can be programmed in different languages, and,
for the disabled, may feature audio or separate Braille keypads. Votes and
voter information are stored internally. Paper records can be made, but there
are no original ballots.
Cost: $7,300-$9,500 per machine
Optical Scan
What it is: Scanned paper ballots
How it's used: Voters fill ovals next to their choices. The
ballots are then fed into a machine and recorded. All ballots get dropped into
bins in case paper audits are needed. Additional equipment may be needed to
accommodate the disabled.
Cost: $5,500-$6,500 per machine
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.