http://www.wapakdailynews.com/articles/2005/08/17/news/news01.txt
Wapakoneta Daily News
Thursday, Aug. 18, 2005
Election
board drops suit
By ERIN MILLER
Staff Writer
A settlement officially announced Monday between Election
Systems & Software and Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell won the
Auglaize County Election Board the chance to select ES&S touch-screen
voting machines, but board members said Tuesday they will likely choose optical
scan machines.
Board members on Tuesday gave Auglaize County Prosecuting
Attorney Ed Pierce permission to file a motion to dismiss their lawsuit against
Blackwell. The board joined the lawsuit in May after ES&S sought an
injunction against Blackwell's voting machine selection deadlines. The
settlement gives ES&S until Nov. 15 to earn certification on their
touch-screen voting machines and sets a Sept. 15 deadline for county election
boards to make a preliminary choice on a voting machine, with a final selection
by Nov. 15.
"Because of the agreement, the board's in a position
now where they can make a knowledgeable and voluntary choice," Pierce told
board members. "All those things you sued for, you now have."
Board members are now leaning toward using optical scan
machines in future elections for the county.
"I've been a tech person for years and I know that
keeping it simple sometimes is the best solution," temporary board
chairman Stan Wietholter said. "I know that optical scan is about as
simple as you can get."
Board member Diana Hausfeld agreed, noting the difficulties
poll workers and board members would have conducting a recount with the
touch-screen machines' receipt tape printout, the state-mandated "paper
trail" for votes. The sheets voters complete for the optical scan machines
also function as an approved paper trail.
"I think it's wonderful," Board member Larry
Fledderjohann said about the lawsuit's completion following the meeting.
"I think it's high time it's settled. There was so much indecision with
the (touch-screen machines)."
The tentative decision to use the optical scan system is a
good decision for a county with a population the size of Auglaize County,
Fledderjohann said, noting the amount of work it took board members and poll
workers to prepare and to set up the touch-screen machines.
Jerry Amick, account service manager for ES&S, said
Auglaize County's ES&S representative, Todd Mullen, suggested the county
purchase 46 optical scan ballot counters and 25 Automark handicapped-accessible
voting machines, at an approximate cost of $453,000. Auglaize County is set to
receive about $480,000 from the Help America Vote Act to use for the purchase
of voting equipment.
Amick also answered board questions about the payment status
of the office's voting equipment. He said the board has paid for service and
technical support but made no equipment payments for two years.
"My understanding was, Todd (Mullen) was going to get
back to the commissioners with a payment plan, then this came out with a
lawsuit and everything got put on hold," Fledderjohann said.
Board members said they believed former Elections Director
Jean Burklo and former ES&S employee Joe McGinnis initiated a contract for
the machines, but the payment plan was halted when the state mandated that
voting machines include a paper receipt.
Hausfeld and Elections Director Linda Householder updated
board members and Toni Slusser, Blackwell's field representative, about a
software training session last week with representatives of Delaware County,
which also uses ES&S software. Hausfeld and Householder said they asked the
Delaware County employee to help them find records showing how the voter rolls
were updated in 2003, but no information was found.
The representative told Hausfeld and Householder the
Delaware County elections director could help Auglaize County with this year's
update.
Copyright © 2005, The Wapakoneta Daily News.
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