In a joint meeting Monday, the Kosciusko County Council and Commissioners, along with the county clerk and auditor, discussed the issues behind purchasing new voting machines for the county.

By law, new voting machines must be in place by January 2006. If the county follows the guidelines, Kosciusko County could be reimbursed by the federal government through the Helping Americans Vote Act for the purchase of the new voting machines for up to approximately $545,000.

According to county auditor Sue Ann Mitchell, 78 of the 92 Indiana counties already have applied for the funding. To receive the funding, the commissioners must pass a resolution giving authority for someone in the county to act on behalf of the county for the purpose of filing the necessary paperwork. The county election board must adopt a resolution concerning the accessibility of polling places. Then the commissioners and council must adopt a resolution concerning the accessibility of polling places and the administration of Helping Americans Vote Act Funds.

The county cannot purchase the machines with money the county currently has on hand.

There are three areas where Kosciusko County can qualify for reimbursement. For punch card replacement, Mitchell said, the county can receive $3,192 per precinct for 63 precincts and that money is "guaranteed." Kosciusko County had 63 precincts in 2000 and 65 this year, but for reimbursement purposes, the 2000 figure is used.

For Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant machines, the county potentially can receive $4,804 per polling place.

Lastly, for software the county potentially may receive $50,000.

On Aug. 26, county officials heard the latest information about the required voting machine changes and reimbursement for voting machines, and saw demonstrations of them. Monday, county clerk Sharon Christner said the blind couple at the demonstration preferred the machines presented by Voting Technologies International from Wisconsin.

Christner said training will be needed for the new machines and that should be in the contract with whatever company the county chooses. Some of them did not include training costs in their information and the county may have to pay extra for that.

The county will need to decide if they want to go with the optical scan with paper ballots or the Direct Record Electronic (touch screen) machines. As far as absentee ballots that must be mailed out, Christner said, the county will have to go with the optical scan ballots.

By consolidating polling places, if the county goes with all optical scan, they need to purchase only 55 machines. If the county goes with all DREs, the county will need to purchase 253 machines. Also, by going with the optical scan ballots, Christner said, she thought the county could save on postage.

Ron Truex, county commissioner, said at the Aug. 26 presentation, the DREs seemed the easiest machines. Surrounding counties are using them and they are available from an Indianapolis company. Allen County has been using them for about eight years so a track record on how well they work is available.

Commissioner Brad Jackson said he wants the best price. The county could tell the companies how much money they expect to be reimbursed for and offer that price for the machines. If the company wanted more, the county could move on to the next company. He said portability of machines is an issue, but he also wants guaranteed compliance with the law.

For the optical scans, voters just fill out their ballots with a pencil. Truex asked if that was taking a step backwards. Christner said she thought the elderly would accept them because they are a lot like the punch cards. The touch screens may "scare" them and make it difficult for the county to get poll workers for the 2006 election. Truex said the DREs are hard to fool.

People who actually go to the polls to vote will vote regardless of the machine, council chairman Harold Jones said. The county could hold public demonstrations of the machines before an actual election.

"I really don't think these machines are foolproof, but I don't think they'll let you make a mistake," he said.

Fewer machines are needed if the county goes with the optical scan, Jackson said. If the county goes with the optical scan, the county still will need to purchase at least one ADA compliant DRE for each polling place for a total of about 110 machines.

"I imagine whichever way we go," said Charlene Knispel, councilwoman, "we'll have problems the first year."

The question, said Truex, is the cost of purchasing the optical scan machines plus 55 ADA compliant touch screens versus purchasing all 253 DREs.

Jones recommended a committee be formed to gather more information on the costs of the different machines, then suggested the county commissioners be in charge of getting the prices nailed down.

"To move this along," said Truex, "we'll accept this challenge."

Avis Gunter, commissioner, said for the November election, the county's polling places will be reviewed for ADA compliance.

Jones said everything the county needs - printers, training, machines, etc. - should be included in the pricing figures. Mitchell said they need to put it all into writing and get the information out to all of the voting machine companies, including ES&S, Nebraska; Fidlar, Illinois; Microvote, Indianapolis; and Voting Technologies, Wisconsin.

Truex said he thought the commissioners could get all the information on pricing to the council by the council's November meeting.

Members of the county commissioners are Truex, Gunter and Jackson. Councilmen are Larry Teghtmeyer, John Kinsey, Tom Anglin, Jones, Knispel, Maurice Beer and Brad Tandy. [[In-content Ad]]