Reply #31: PA: Clarion County Confidence in AccuVote-TSX machines

[rumpel]

http://www2.theclarionnews.com/General_News/51695.shtml

County expresses confident in new voting machines
By Tom DiStefano, Clarion News writer




CLARION -- Clarion County Director of Elections Ronn Kuzmovich is confident the county will be ready for the May primary election.


Brand new touch-screen AccuVote-TSX voting machines, made by Diebold Election Systems, have been ordered and are on their way. Kuzmovich says poll workers will be trained in their use, and the machines will be secure and accurate in counting the votes.

The county purchased 122 touch screen voting machines for use in 41 precinct polling places. County commissioner Donna Oberlander said the total system cost $429,000, but a $431,000 federal grant more than covers the bill.

Voters cast their ballots by touching names on a flat-panel computer-type screen. The machine records those votes and stores them on a memory chip. After the polls close, the memory chips, along with a printed paper tape with vote totals, are unplugged from the touch screen machines and taken to the courthouse for tabulation.

Kuzmovich said March 2 the new machines have been ordered, are on their way, and will be ready in time to train poll workers for the May 19 primary election.

Training sessions have already started, using the demonstration machine the county has now, and more will be arranged.

The county will train some poll workers in small groups of about five, and Diebold personnel will conduct trainings with larger groups, Kuzmovich said.

The Diebold machines carry a two-year warrantee.

The machines do not provide a voter-verified paper trail, but no other machine approved for use in Pennsylvania does either, and in fact, the county is not allowed to use machines providing such a paper trail.