JOHNSTOWN - Fulton County supervisors said Tuesday they are somewhat wary of new optical-scan voting machines and have concerns about the machines' ability to keep each person's vote as private as possible.

Voters throughout Fulton County will use the new voting machines, which will scan paper ballots. They will complete those paper ballots by hand by filling out bubbles corresponding to the candidates for whom they want to vote.

The machines were used in the town and city of Johnstown during September's primary election. They will be used throughout the county in November, in part because voting in the two municipalities "went so smoothly" in the primary election, according to county Administrative Officer Jon Stead.

Supervisors, however, said they are worried the new machines, which replace lever-style versions that have been used throughout the state in previous elections, would not afford voters the same opportunity to keep their ballots secret because people would be filling out their ballots by hand on a sheet of paper.

"As far as total privacy, I don't know how much you're going to have," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Jack Callery. "I don't think it'll be as private as what, for some reason, we're giving up."

Stead said voters will be able to cover their ballots with a manila envelope, and any problems that people might have had with confidentiality might have stemmed from the fact that September's vote in Johnstown was intended to subject the new machines to a trial run.

"This was the very first time through," said Stead. "It's not going to be a seamless and perfect transition."

But some supervisors said they also were worried the new machines would discourage elderly citizens from coming to the polls, though Callery said he feels "age has nothing to do with it."

Northampton Supervisor Linda Kemper suggested the county offer training on how to use the new machines, especially because Edinburg and Mayfield are holding such seminars.

Broadalbin Supervisor Lee Hollenbeck said he believes the process could go much more smoothly if election inspectors were better capable of handling what goes on during Election Day.

"You've got to offer more money to screen election officials," he said. "You really should think about upping the ante."

Supervisors agreed that there was not very much they could do at this point, however, to make the state return to using the old machines. Because of that, Gloversville 3rd Ward Supervisor Michael Gendron said the board needed to act quickly if it wanted to make sure things run as smoothly as possible on Election Day, which is Nov 3.

"If there are several issues, then we need to get it to the proper committee and get a response from our elected officials," Gendron said. "We're not going back."

Zach Subar can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.