Wayne to purchase new voting system by primary

County opts for paper ballots that are scanned

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA - Wayne County voters will have a new voting system in place for the Presidential primary on February 22.

That is the promise made by the county commissioners on January 31 when they passed a resolution to purchase two high-speed electronic scanners for the paper ballots and 40 voter-assist terminals used by the handicapped.

The total cost for the systems is $304,900. The state will provide partial funding of $293,581 for the cost of the machines, with the county kicking in $11,318.

Since the federal government decertified the touch-screen machines produced by Advanced Voting Solutions, which the county purchased nearly two years ago, county voters will use the paper ballot as they did in the last county election last November.

Two other PA counties - Lackawanna and Northampton - have suffered the same fate since they also purchased the same electronic touch machines.

The two electronic scanners will be used to count the paper ballots centrally, and the voter-assist terminals for the handicapped will be used in all 37 voting districts, following federal regulations. The three remaining terminals of the 40 will be used for backup and for demonstration purposes.

“These scanners are very fast and can tabulate 300 ballots per minute,” said Cindy Furman, director of the county election department. “We should have the final tabulations in an hour.”

In the November 2007 election, the ballot counting was so tedious that it had to be finished the following morning.

One additional motivation for the selection of this system is the danger of becoming involved in a pending lawsuit in a Chester County court if the county were to purchase direct recording electronic (DRE) machines that utilize touch-screen capability. An advocacy group in Chester County wants the DRE system outlawed in the Commonwealth and may target any county using them in the court case.