Voting for President the old fashioned way in Wayne

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - The Presidential primary is coming to Pennsylvania on April 22. Will Wayne County have an electronic voting system in time?

Not very likely, said the new chairman of the Wayne County Commissioners, Brian Smith.

Last year, the federal government decertified the Advanced Voting System (AVS) that Wayne had purchased and told the county they would have to put in a more reliable system. The same verdict was issued to Lackawanna and Northampton counties. The three counties had to use the old paper ballot system with the use of electronic scanners to tabulate the November 2007 vote.

“By using optic scanners, we could have what they call a central count,” said Cindy Furman, director of the county election department. “The precincts bring all the ballots back to the county courthouse and we put them in the scanning machine to read them.”

Smith said that the county doesn’t want to purchase another system that may be rejected by the federal government. “We’re still looking into purchasing an electronic system, to see if it makes sense,” Smith said. “We may have to defer such a purchase for right now,” he said.

The federal government, under the provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), has reimbursed the county for the purchase of the faulty AVS system, but may not reimburse for any new system that is purchased. With 37 voting precincts, another electronic system could cost between $500,000 and $650,000.

“It’s really a mess,” Smith said.

Smith said that he and the other commissioners would make a decision very soon. The county must provide each of the 37 precincts with an electronic voting system for the handicapped.

“By itself, this is a very expensive system,” Smith said.