Elections Systems & Software representative Frank Galizia (left) demonstrates a voting machine for the Alleghany Commission. In the foreground is Chairman Eldon Edwards. County must discard $158,000 in voting machines bought in 1999

New laws require countywide voting equipment changes

Alleghany County is required by a new state law to discard all of its voting machines and replace them with a state-approved model, the Alleghany Board of Commissioners learned at their meeting Jan. 10. The commissioners, sans Sandy Carter Herndon, who was on vacation, tabled the matter until their next meeting. The commissioners voiced disapproval for the requirement to replace machines — especially since the commissioners weren’t given many options from which to choose.

The county’s machines, EasyVote 2000 touch-screens that were purchased in 1999 at a cost of about $156,000, must now be surplused.

The state board of elections issued a decree on Dec. 9, 2005 called an order of decertification, that only approved machines may be used in elections in North Carolina in 2006. The board then went on to certify only one company to provide the machines, Elections Systems & Software (ES&S).

Since the company was still in the process of creating a contract, the board had little choice but to wait for that document prior to official approval.

Also affecting elections nationwide is a new federal law that requires all machines to print a paper receipt that can be inspected by each voter. Alleghany’s machines stored votes on a computer hard drive, but did not give paper receipts. Upon learning the requirements set forth by the state, including a requirement that the machines be handicapped accessible, Fidlar and Chambers, which produced the EasyVote 2000 machines that the county purchased, opted to withdraw support for the machines and not upgrade them to meet new state guidelines.

Elections Board Chairman Ed Adams told the commissioners that the action by the state board is forcing the hand of the local board, a fact that did not go without being noticed by several members of the commission. Adams added that it is a shame to have the machines in perfect working order and not be allowed to use them.

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