Lenoir County commissioners, divided on the best way to process election ballots, split 4-3 Monday on selecting which machine to handle the job.

The question was whether the county should buy touch screen or optical scanning equipment, or vote the old-fashioned way – paper ballots counted by hand.

Commissioners Earl Harper, Chris Humpheys and Wayne Pittman voted against authorizing $530,509 for 145 touch screen machines – one for every 250 voters – that the state requires. The equipment comes with a one-year warranty.

The federal government will pay $333.601 towards replacing the old machines and the state will pay $30,000. The county will spend $145,000 to pay the balance. The amount does not include software costs, which are uncertain at this time.

“This looks like an open-ended spending thing,” Harper said. “There might be a better option [to touch screen machines.]”

Commissioners quickly discarded the idea of manually counting ballots, saying the exercise would be slow and costly.

The disagreement came on whether to buy machines to optically scan ballots or those with a touch screen similar to equipment now in use. Both machines produce a “paper trail” to verify election results. A recent federal law requires verification. Both types of machines will require climate-controlled storage.

The touch screen machines are familiar to voters and would save confusion at the polls on election day, county Election Board Director Dana King told commissioners.

The state so far has approved only one company as a vendor. Other companies may be approved a year from now after the state observes this year’s results, she said, but the deadline for a decision was in January. Lenoir County, and a handful of other counties, missed the deadline. It is not clear whether any penalty will be imposed.

King said most residents, and election board members who tried out the equipment, prefer the touch screens. The federal government is providing $333,661 to help pay for the new machines and the state is providing $30,000, but those are one-time offers. If the county is unhappy with the optical scan machines, no more state or federal grant money will be available a year from now after other vendors are approved. King expressed confidence that the touch screen machines would give a greater degree of satisfaction, even though they are more costly.

“I can’t see us coming back a year from now and getting something else,” she said. “Whatever we get now, we’re going to have for a while.”

Half of the equipment will be ready for the May primary, including machines designed for handicapped use. All equipment will be in by the November election, King said.

“What we have now, you can dump in the river,” she said. “That’s all it’s good for.”

Fifty-nine other counties in North Carolina, including Pitt County, will use optical scan machines, 24 will go with the touch screens and 11 are using both systems. Five counties have decided to use paper ballots.

Print this page

Have an opinion. Register Here and post on our Message board.