PITTSBURGH (Newsradio 1020 KDKA) – Allegheny County officials are still undecided on which voting machines to buy in time to get the new system in place for next year’s elections.
The Board of Elections voted Friday to request three companies that have not been certified for large and complex ballots in Pennsylvania to run tests on an actual Allegheny County ballot to prove they are up to the task.
“The hope is that they are able to respond back quickly so we can get it done in a timely fashion so that we can still make a decision soon,” according to board chair and county Councilman Tom Baker. County officials would like to have a contract in place by early October so the new system can be up and running in time for the spring primary.
Virtually everyone who testified to the board’s public meeting Friday favored a system that uses voter-marked paper ballots that can be easily verified by the voter. Maureen Mamula who heads the League of Women Voters of Allegheny County testified, “There should not be any technology such as a summary ballot or the use of barcodes in any form that interferes with the voter’s intent.”
Four companies have submitted nine voting systems for the county’s consideration. But only one company, Elections Systems and Software, has been state certified to process complex ballots with large numbers of voters. ES&S does have a system using paper, hand-market ballots. But its system for people with disabilities who can’t mark a paper ballot relies on barcodes to count ballots.
The board is hoping to get the test results back before the end of September and then take a vote on the winning system.
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