Wednesday, October 2, 2002
|
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 |
|
Some facts about voting changes
In the last presidential election, per Secretary of State Cathy Cox, over 94,000 presidential votes were rejected as under-votes because the machines were unable to read the votes. In some counties, 15% of the votes via optical scanner voting machines were not counted. Georgia's error rate was approximately 3.5 percent of the state's votes, which is higher than Florida's 2.9 percent of under-votes. The national average is 1.9 percent. Some counties forgot to count their absentee ballots. There were recounts in other counties. Overall, Georgia's voting system was a problem in need of a fix. The state's solution will be tested in the upcoming election. Georgia is the first, and only, state to adopt a uniform electronic voting system in all counties and to pay for the purchase with state funds. Diebold Election Systems Inc. was awarded a $54 million contract to provide 19,015 electronic voting machines to 2,823 precincts in Georgia's 159 counties. The contract, the largest in the history of the United States for voting equipment, also included optical scanners to tabulate absentee ballots, software and training. Each new voting machine costs roughly $2,683 a piece, which is almost ten times the cost of a punch card machine at $200 to $350 a copy. For those who like trivia the machines weigh 43 pounds each. The machines are made to withstand being dropped and banged. The state plans to provide approximately 1 machine per 196 - 200 voters on the average. On the "old" paper ballot system, Fayette County had acquired booths to reach a one booth for every 100-voter ratio. Despite a lower ratio of booth to number of voters, as this is not a presidential election year with a much higher turnout ratio, the elections board is not expecting an increase in lines or waiting time. Machines were used in Hall and Marion counties during the primary election. Neither county reported problems during the live test of electronic voting units.
|
||