Voting Machines To Cost $40-$100 M
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Sequoia's new Direct Record Electronic (DRE) voting system.

They are much maligned and downright clunky. But like the politician who once said, "You won't have me to kick around anymore," you may have pulled a lever in a metal box for the last time. That is, if you weren't kicking the thing because it jammed when you voted last week.

About 7,000 lever-operated voting machines that have been used and re-used in New York City elections for more than four decades will finally be replaced with new electronic voting systems by September 2007.

Two new voting systems, optical scan machines and direct recording electronic machines (DRE), are under consideration by the Board of Elections. Optical scanners read votes on paper ballots the same way that some standardized tests are automatically scored. Direct recording electronic machines permit voting with push buttons and automated screens like ATMs. Both systems provide voter-verifiable paper if needed for an audit.

The federal Helping America Vote Act (HAVA) that passed in 2002 in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election gave states new voter guidelines and $3.86 billion in funding to upgrade their voting systems.

But the U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of New York on March 1, 2006 for noncompliance with the HAVA law when state legislators did not meet the 2006 deadline.

In danger of losing $153 million in federal funding, New York state settled with the Department of Justice in June 2006 and agreed to replace lever voting machines by the September 2007 election (instead of September 2006) and by also placing a small number of accessible ballot marking devices for use by disabled voters in each of the state's 62 counties for the September and November 2006 elections.

Because the New York state legislature was unable to decide on a single voting system for the entire state, counties are responsible for purchasing their new voting systems on an individual basis.

The New York City Board of Elections, encompassing about 4 million voters in five counties, is holding a public meeting this week at LaGuardia Community College, during which four vendors will present their voting systems.

It is estimated that the city will need to purchase between 5,000 and 10,000 new voting machines, costing $6,000 to $11,000 per machine. Optical scanners are less expensive than the DRE machines. The total cost of a contract is estimated between $40 and $100 million.

As of October 2006, five vendors are certified by the New York state Board of Elections to demonstrate their voting systems. They are: Diebold AccuVote OS (optical scan), ES&S M- 100 & Automark (optical scan), Liberty Vote (DRE), Sequoia Optech Insight (optical scan) and Sequoia Advantage L (DRE).

By unanimous vote last August 16, the New York City Council passed a resolution asking the city Board of Elections to perform specific public tests before it selects new voting machines to comply with HAVA, including complete mock elections and hacking tests for security.

The city Board of Elections will warehouse the old lever machines just in case, like the politician, they make a comeback.