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http://www.poststar.com/articles/2007/05/15/news/local/b4b9faedc293b1cf852572dc0011063c.txt

COURTESY LIBERTY ELECTION SYSTEMS Electronic voting machines similar to this one will be available for residents of Glens Falls and Queensbury school districts to try out during today's school budget vote.

Polls open for school votes

Two districts plan to try electronic voting machines

By OMAR AQUIJE

oaquije@poststar.com

May 15, 2007

Polls will be open today in schools across the state, where proposed school budgets and board candidates will be among the ballot options.

Times and locations vary by school district, but in most local districts, polls are open until at least 8 p.m.

Voting information from each school district is available at www.poststar.com.

Every school is proposing a 2007-08 budget, and at least one candidate is running in each district for open or contested board of education seats.

In some districts, residents will find building improvement plans and proposals to purchase buses.

Others, such as Cambridge and Ballston Spa, are also proposing funding for their local libraries.

Unlike other forms of government spending, taxpayers can vote on school budgets.

"It's important because of all the municipal budgets in the state ... the school budget is the only thing they can vote on," said Glens Falls City School District Superintendent Thomas McGowan.

Voters will find contested school board races in a number of local districts.

In Glens Falls and Queensbury, there will be a new electronic voting machine that voters can choose to use, or they can stick with using old-style machines to record their vote.

The Troy City School District is the only other district in the Capital Region that will be using the LibertyVote Record Electronic voting machine today.

Made by Liberty Election Systems, the machine has a touch screen that allows people to view the whole ballot when voting.

People can also see their choices on a paper receipt before casting their votes. The machine retains the paper ballot through a feature called the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail, which acts as a backup system.

Superintendent Brian Howard has seen the machine and said it is easy to use.

"It's really a nifty little device," Howard said.

Voters in Glens Falls can find the new machine at the Sanford Street Elementary School.

Queensbury residents will find the new machine at the Queensbury Elementary School.

The Warren County Board of Elections recommended the schools try the new machine after it received a favorable response during a public demonstration at the Glens Falls Civic Center in April 2006.