Electronic voting machine approved for disabled vote(has paper ballot)

[Algorem]

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An electronic voting machine will be certified for use by disabled voters once the paperwork of its federal approval arrives, a spokesman for the state's elections chief said Tuesday.

However, the machine won't be available for use by all voters in next year's election, primarily because of the cost of buying 40,000 of them, said Carlo LoParo, spokesman for Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell.

The Diebold-made machine to be certified by the Ohio Board of Voting Machine Examiners includes a device that produces a paper record that can be read by voters, as required by Ohio law. It also has an audio feature so those who cannot read a ballot can vote, making it compliant with the Help America Vote Act. All machines must be meet HAVA standards for the first federal election of 2006.

The cost of refitting Ohio's polling places will be about $100 million if optical-scan machines that electronically read paper ballots are used, LoParo said. That also includes the cost of placing one electronic touch-pad voting machine for the disabled in each polling place, he said...


http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-16/111282919567980.xml&storylist=cleveland

[sasquatch]

1. Damn straight, paper ballot

Now if the democrats will actually fight for '06 maybe we'll win back the house or Senate.

[sacxtra]

2. if it has paper then why does it need electricity? n/t

[Algorem]

6. Don't worry,Diebold knows how to handle all those electronic parts.

[Merlin]

3. ?"if optical-scan machines that electronicly read paper ballots are used"?

Doesn't make sense. If they use optical scan machines, there's no need for a paper printout. You only need one machine per polling place. People (except for disabled) all vote by paper ballots which are scanned in by machine. The paper ballots serve as an auditable backup. It's the best way to go, and the cheapest, by far.

[Merlin]

4. Just found this loophole in new Ohio voting law. !!!

FINAL VERSION AS SIGNED BY GOVERNOR 5/04

http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=125_HB_262

(125th General Assembly)
(Substitute House Bill Number 262)
-----------------------------------
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections... 3506.01, ... be amended... to read as follows:
Sec. 3506.01.
(H)..."The physical paper printout shall be securely retained at the polling place until the close of the polls on the day of the election..."
-----------------------------------

This means the paper ballots can be destroyed at the end of voting day, and will not be available for random audits and recounts. Unbelievable!

[Algorem]

5. Then they make bonfires out of them at the Republican victory parties.