That's really not the most important item in this article, but it was so outrageous that I had to put it in the subject line.
What's most significant in this (rather murky) article is the trend toward all electronic voting in Williamson County, Texas, and the link between that move and early voting. MCM County considers backing all electronic voting By <mailto:newsd...@thehuttonews.com>Philip Jankowski <http://www.taylordailypress.net/articles/2009/04/15/news/news05.txt>Taylor Daily Press: County considers backing all electronic voting The specter of all electronic voting may perturb conspiracy theorists, or the "black helicopter types," as Commissioner Lisa Birkman classified some at Tuesday's meeting of the Williamson County Commissioners Court. But Commissioners were unable to put their full support behind pending legislation in the Senate and House that would allow for counties to become all electronic on Election Day. "I think it is the way of the future," County Judge Dan Gattis said during the discussion, but according to Birkman, several people in her precinct still would rather have the peace of mind of seeing their votes cast on a paper ballot. Williamson County currently offers a paper and electronic system for voting on Election Day. Over the past few elections, more and more voters have opted to use the electronic machines, according to county election administrator Rick Barron. A big piece of that trend is continued upturns in the amount of people choosing to vote early. About 70 percent of voters voted early in November, and typical early voting turnout for a municipal election is about 60 percent, Barron said. Early voters can only use electronic machines because of the paper nightmare that would arise from the use of limited polling places. On any given Election Day with a prominent state or national race, the county will have polling locations set up in all of its 99 precincts. However during early voting, those locations are condensed into regional polling places that allow county voters to cast their ballot anywhere in the county. Current legislation would allow countywide polling places on Election Day. Currently, the practice is not permitted, Barron said. "It's much more convenient for the voter," Barron said. "We'd be able to reduce the number of polling places to about half." But doing so would mean all polling places would have to be electronic only. The amount of paper necessary to ensure a voter from an East Williamson County precinct would have a proper paper ballot available at a polling place in Cedar Park is cumbersome to the point that it makes the practice impractical and nearly impossible, Barron said. To enact a countywide, all-electronic voting system would require purchasing more than 450 new voting machines at a price tag of between $600,000 and $800,000, Barron said. However, the high price tag could be offset by the drastic cutback in the amount of labor needed to conduct an election. By cutting the number of polling places in half, the amount of people needed on Election Day drops from about 600 to 300, Barron estimated. Election workers make between $8 and $10 an hour, he said. Paper ballots also cost about 29 cents per ballot. Pending legislation is also in the works to authorize counties to use electronic voting machines that print voting selections on paper as a way to check a ballot. However, Barron said using that technology would be a vast cost to the county. Printers costing about $800 apiece would be required for all voting machines. Since the county began using electronic voting machines, the machines have been involved in one error in 2006, when 6,500 more votes were counted than cast. However, the miscount has been attributed to user error and the administrator involved is no longer with the county. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
