November 04, 2005

"Vote system could get OK this year"

"California Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said during a tour of San Joaquin County's elections office Thursday that a controversial touchscreen voting system could be certified by the end of the year.

McPherson told Registrar of Voters Deborah Hench and other county officials that he is "optimistic" about the Diebold TSx machine, which goes before a state certification panel Nov. 22. The county agreed to purchase 1,600 of the machines for $5.7 million three years ago, though they were only used once before being decertified by the state in 2004.

The county has only paid Diebold $858,000 while waiting for the ATM-like machines to be approved. McPherson will take a recommendation from the certification panel later this month and soon after will decide whether to allow their use in June's primary election. "By mid-December we'll have a decision on the certification," McPherson said.

Voters in San Joaquin County will use paper ballots on Tuesday."

You can read the complete story here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at November 4, 2005 10:49 AM