April 14, 2006

Voting machines pulled in Indiana

"New problems with Marion County's balloting system led election officials Thursday to abandon touch-screen voting machines required by federal law for the May 2 primary.

The announcement came as the state's top election official said he will hold hearings into whether two suppliers of Indiana voting machines, including Marion County's, violated state law.
Problems with the ballots could mean election officials in Indianapolis run afoul of federal law.

"This is not a willful announcement of breaking the law," Marion County Clerk Doris Anne Sadler said. "It's a report that we can't physically comply because the vendor hasn't provided what they are supposed to provide."

The Help America Vote Act requires all voters be able to cast a ballot privately and independently, so Marion County spent $3.8 million in 2003 to buy 615 touch-screen machines for people with disabilities.

The machines have never been used and cannot be prepared and checked in time for a mandatory test Monday, election officials said. The supplier, Election Systems & Software of Nebraska, still has not delivered the ballot files for these machines.
State law requires hand counting of ballots on machines that remain uncertified by noon Tuesday."

The article is here.

Posted by Randy Riddle at April 14, 2006 09:13 AM