Election officials: Voters need not worry

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JOHNSTOWN - Some people don't like change, but everyone who votes in Fulton County will have to get used to it on Nov. 3.

From 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Election Day, Fulton County voters exclusively will be using new optical-scan voting machines.

In Montgomery County, two districts - town of Mohawk District 3 and town of Glen District 1 - have been chosen as pilot districts for the new machines.

Those news machines, also known as ballot-marking devices, or BMDs, will replace the old lever-pull machines, and election officials think voters will quickly adapt to their use.

"I don't feel we've gotten that many phone calls of people being worried," said Democratic Fulton County Election Commissioner John Schermerhorn, who said he thinks people will get used to the new machines after using them only once.

Schermerhorn and Republican Deputy Election Commissioner Linda Madison recently took The Leader-Herald through a step-by-step process on how to vote with the new election machines, demonstrating them at the Fulton County Board of Elections office on Route 29.

Election officials have been training election inspectors on how they will direct voters through the new process on Nov. 3. Some municipalities - including the town of Mayfield - are holding voter information sessions for the public. Mayfield has sessions scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday.

Gone are the bulky lever-operated metal machines with curtains that people have been voting on for decades. The process has been replaced by one where voters will use a marker to cast their votes on paper - not unlike filling out a lottery ticket - and feeding that paper into a machine. Then, election officials say, you're done.

"There's no wrong way to put a ballot in," noted Madison.

Election officials and local politicians are hearing comments from some people that they won't vote if new machines are in place.

"You're always going to have complaints on something new," said Fulton County Democratic Chairman Al Hayes.

He said no one can get spare parts for the old lever-type election machines because they're so outdated.

Fulton County Republican Chairwoman Sue McNeil said it's "too early to tell" if there will be voter problems or opposition to the new process.

"We just have to educate and get the word out ourselves," she said.

The effort to modernize the voting process came out of the disputed 2000 presidential election. Congress passed the Help America Vote Act in 2002, and New York's counties were given money to help purchase new election machines and booths. The Fulton County Board of Elections in February was given permission by the Board of Supervisors to purchase 30 machines worth about $350,000 to satisfy the HAVA mandate. The county also purchased 30 security booths.

Fulton County election officials said the new process will work this way:

Voters enter the polling place and register with an election inspector, as normal. The inspector will hand voters a printed ballot, a privacy sleeve in which to place the ballot when the voting is done, and a Flair marker.

Voters are directed to an open-style voter booth, which includes four stations - one for a handicapped voter and three for non-handicapped voters. No more than four people will be allowed to vote at one time.

"There's going to be an [organized] flow, so there's not going to be people walking behind the people to vote," Madison said.

Schermerhorn said election inspectors are being told to stay at least 7 to 9 feet away from the voter during the voting process.

Once at the station, voters will mark their choices by filling in square boxes on the ballot, which Schermerhorn said is "like the lottery." There will be voting instructions posted at each booth station for each voter to see. Propositions will be posted on the back of the ballots. After voters review their ballots, inspectors will show them to a voting machine.

Voters will then take their ballots, place them in the privacy sleeve and walk over to the optical scanner, or BMD.

Voters will then start to feed the top of their ballots into the scanner, and the machine will do the rest - feeding it in to be officially cast. If voters have filled out their ballots with no errors, the voting machine will cast the ballot after it has scanned it. Voter will see two screens - "Casting Ballot" and "Ballot Successfully Cast."

If voters overvote - meaning cast votes for more than allowed in a contest - a warning comes up on the screen. Voters who need to go to the inspector for new ballots will have their previous ballots voided.

Voting instructions note that those voting for write-in candidates will simply print the candidate's name at the bottom of the column for the race in which they're running.

Schermerhorn said the write-in process actually will be more convenient for the voter than the old process involving pulling a lever to get to the paper.

He said inspectors will instruct each voter about propositions being on the other side of the ballot. Schermerhorn said that might be the only problem with the voter process - people forgetting propositions are on the other side of the sheet.

Madison said most of the reaction of inspectors to the new voting process has been "great."

Schermerhorn said most people who have used the new machines have been calmed by the simplicity of the process, with several asking: "That's it?"

Member Comments

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oldskool
11-03-09 8:06 PM »Report Abuse	Because there were no "privacy sleeve" anyone could see what you had done by simply looking at the ballot in your hands as you were wating in line to place into the machine. >>>people forgetting propositions are on the other side of the sheet.<<< While waiting in line more than one person got out of line and went back the the "open-style" voting area to do just that. >>>If voters overvote - meaning cast votes for more than allowed in a contest - a warning comes up on the screen. Voters who need to go to the inspector for new ballots will have their previous ballots voided.<<< As the machine was broken and the votes, we were told, would all be hand counted it is hard to know how many people may have done this. But also we were told the little boxes had to be filled in fully and not go outside the box, or to even make any accidental marks anywhere, because if so our votes would not be valid.
oldskool
11-03-09 8:01 PM »Report Abuse	Havinf just voted I will comment on this: >>>The inspector will hand voters a printed ballot, a privacy sleeve in which to place the ballot when the voting is done, and a Flair marker.<<< Did not happen. The ballot was handed over, no "privacy sleeve" at all and the markers were "at the table" >>>Voters are directed to an open-style voter booth<<< "open-style" is the key phrase. >>>"There's going to be an [organized] flow, so there's not going to be people walking behind the people to vote,"<<< There wa sone line goin "behind" on side of the "open-style" voting table that was for those wating to vote. Another line was "behind" the other side of the "open-style" voting table for those who had finished voting and were wating to place their votes into the machine. Because there were no "privacy sleeve" anyone could see what you had done by
FireKatt
10-27-09 10:34 AM »Report Abuse	Discobulous...you and Teebzz are two bright spots in this paper's comment section. I look forward to seeing what you both have to say everyday. Always "the lighter side" of the news. Thanks for the daily chuckle if not a full out laugh...keep up the great job.
Discobulous
10-27-09 9:43 AM »Report Abuse	No. It will come when I get to write my mother-in-law's obituary. Keep reading.....
codder
10-26-09 9:57 PM »Report Abuse	As a former Fulton County resident who now lives out of state but continues to follow news of the County, I just had to respond to last comment by Discobulous. Discobulous you could not be more incorrect. I have been a poll observer for the last 5-6 yrs in my current home where we use optical scan machines. They are simple & effective and especially so when poll workers have been trained as it appears your local people have done an excellent job. I am waiting to read just one possitive comment by you, Discobulous, and I bet it may arrive after you use an optical scan machine for the first time.
Discobulous
10-26-09 9:12 PM »Report Abuse	This will make it quicker for fewer people to vote. The old green machnes were not electric and any custodian could fix them. Please don't try to tell me this is an improvement.
TiredOfTax
10-26-09 8:50 PM »Report Abuse	What no blue finger ink?
bleekerbob
10-26-09 6:47 PM »Report Abuse	This will make it easier for voter fraud.
Musicel
10-26-09 3:33 PM »Report Abuse	Glad the voting process is becoming more modernized.
IKnooow
10-26-09 1:29 PM »Report Abuse	It's time to update into the 21st century. I'm guessing that aside from the surface change in how voting takes place, these new machines make it possible and easier to tabulate, sort and archive results, since all the input instantly becomes digital information.
Discobulous
10-26-09 12:15 PM »Report Abuse	Maybe yes, maybe no. The real question is, is any of this really necessary?
reader
10-26-09 11:52 AM »Report Abuse	So easy that a caveman can do it!

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