Reply #21: OH: Choice of optical scanners sells Summit voters short [View All]

Editorial:

Posted on Tue, Dec. 20, 2005

Accuracy in voting

Choice of optical scanners sells Summit voters short

"Most counties in Ohio and all others in this region have chosen modern voting technology that allows decisions to be made (and corrected) by touching a computer screen. Not in Summit. Here, the elections board deadlocked. Republicans insisted on a half-step forward, opting for a low-tech system that scans marks on paper. Democrats embraced a fully computerized, touch-screen system. Neither side would budge.

"On Friday, J. Kenneth Blackwell, the secretary of state, broke the stalemate, siding with fellow Republicans Alex Arshinkoff and Joseph Hutchinson over Democrats Wayne Jones and Russ Pry. Sadly, the primary reason for choosing an optical scanner was cost. The selection will save the state nearly $1.1 million, money that can be used to offset other costs of complying with the federal Help America Vote Act."

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Most important is that touch-screen voting automatically eliminates the most common ballot error, overvoting, Diebold machines producing error rates as low as 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent in some states. (Wilms notes: Diebold machines produce error rates as as high as 20 percent in some states...like CA.)

snip

http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/editorial/13447717.htm

Discussion:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=203x406052