New voting machines demonstrated at BC3
BUTLER TWP — Voters caught on quickly Thursday as they filled out dummy ballots at Butler County Community College.
The county Bureau of Elections held a demonstration in the Heaton Family Learning Commons, where bureau workers demonstrated the new paper ballot system.
Four other demonstrations have been held throughout the county, and two more are upcoming in Cranberry Township and at Slippery Rock University.
Pennsylvania was one of 13 states that used direct-recording electronic voting machines, but moved to the paper-ballot scanner tabulator after a mandate from Harrisburg that all voting systems in the state must include a paper record that can be verified.
County commissioners initially expected to spend up to $8 million on a new voting system, but the certified system they chose from Election Systems and Software of Omaha, Neb., cost only $939,075.
On Thursday, voters completed a paper ballot asking them to use a pen to fill in the circle beside their favorite cartoon family, mom and dad, among a few other cartoon-related questions.
After filling out the dummy ballot, the voters were shown how to slip their ballot into a scanner.
The scanner determined whether the ballot was filled out properly, accepted or rejected and was returned to the voter from the scanner.
Bureau of Elections registrar Melissa Herrit said ballots will be rejected if too many circles are filled in or if the scanner finds other problems on the ballot.
The voter, Herrit explained, then would be given another ballot to fill out and place in the scanner.
Once accepted by the scanner, the ballot drops into a plastic container attached to the scanner that cannot be accessed by anyone until it arrives at the courthouse.
Most voters who came to the demonstration stayed only a few minutes before declaring the system easy to understand.
“They're like, 'Wow, this is simple,'” Herrit said.Bob and Jean Fowler of Butler Township heard election officials say poll workers would take their names and have them sign the book as usual before handing them a single paper ballot in a manila folder.Voters will carry the ballot to a table fitted with privacy screens, where they will sit down and make their choices or fill in the “straight party” circle.Voters then return the ballot to the folder if they so choose and go to the scanner, where they will slip their ballot in.A screen on the ballot will thank them for voting if accepted or list the reasons the ballot cannot be accepted. The voter would then fill out another ballot and scan it.Jean Fowler filled in three circles in a race that said “vote for no more than two,” so hers was returned.“We wanted to be familiar with it, so we won't have to bother the poll workers when we came in,” Jean said.She recalled the paper ballots of several years ago as well as the electronic ballots, which were a little more complicated.“This is very simple, but you have to pay attention to what you're doing,” she said.Bob Fowler feared the print on the ballots was a little small for older voters.He said he had heard people complain about the electronic voting system and wonder if they could be hacked.“This is probably more secure,” he said of the paper ballot and scanner system.Herrit said the demonstration saw about 45 people come to try out the system before 1 p.m.“Once they see it, I think everyone is going to be confident about casting their ballot,” she said.Shari Brewer, elections bureau director, said the goal is to familiarize voters with the new system.“A lot of people are not sure what to do, and they can be intimidated because of the unknown,” Brewer said.The next demonstration will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Oct. 22 at the student center at Slippery Rock University.The final event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Cranberry Township Municipal Center on Rochester Road.
