| 117th Year, 25th Issue | Thursday, January 26, 2006 | Sparta, North Carolina |
The Alleghany County Board of Commissioners opted to purchase 28 touch-screen voting machines at their meeting Monday at a cost of $198,640.
Partial funding for the new voting machines is available through the Help America Vote Act, which was passed by federal legislators in 2004. The county was deemed eligible for about $116,390, said County Manager Don Adams.
Director of Elections Karen K. Fender said Tuesday in a brief interview that the final purchase amount of the new machines and the total of any and all grant funds are still unclear.
“The grant money is at the state level now and the state board is talking about giving that money directly to the voting machine company.
The total amount we will need to pay is still tied up in negotiations between the N.C. Board of Elections and the only company that is authorized to supply voting machines in the state, Election Systems and Software (ES&S).” The estimated cost of the machines is $198,640, minus the grant amount, Fender said.
The new machines are expected to be delivered to a warehouse in Raleigh and then sent on to the county, although local officials do not have an official timeline at this time. In addition, training is needed for the new machines prior to the May 2 primary. The state board of elections will supply that training.
The machines offer access to visually impaired voters through an audible ballot, as well as to other voters via a touch-screen device. The new machines do not require a stylus to operate, as did the county’s EasyVote 2000 machines, which were purchased in 1999 at a cost of $156,000. Those machines are no longer eligible to be used in North Carolina elections because they do not meet certification criteria. Among those criteria is the requirement that each machine keep a paper record of every vote cast — the EasyVote machines recorded votes only by electronic means.
Meanwhile at the meeting Monday, Adams said, “If you recall the last time, the board wanted time to think about options and the board wanted to look at contracts...if you look at the letter from the state board of elections, under contract, it says the county will be asked to sign a grant acceptance form which will reference standard contract terms. The state board of elections will serve as the physical agent for the HAVA grant. To follow up, the state board of elections has assumed all contract responsibilities.”
Adams also noted that the amount of HAVA funds the county will receive
is more than originally thought. “After having discussions with the
state board of elections, it looks like our real amount is going to be
$116,390. We get $12,000 per voting precinct. We also get $12,000 for
one-stop voting. We also get additional funding for two back-up
machines. At this point, the state board of elections has given that a
value of $5,000 a piece.”
|
Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back |