Reply #26: If I use your numbers...

[onthebench]

First off if the county pays $4000 then they are being ripped off. The first major county was Riverside at $4200 ea. The price should be around $3000 if the county is smart enough to know that companies like Dell are willing to work with smaller vendors like Avante to bring the price down to where it should be. Maintenance agreements should be the same for either system as both require more maintenance on the ballot generation end than the machines. The space to store machines is the main cost.

I remember that small towns in New Hampshire were paying $.80 a ballot three years ago. The paper has to have a perfect 90 degree angle. This is not paper that you can get at Staples. I will even say that the ballot is printed perfectly every time.

So the new math is $15000 for DRES that will last at least 10 years. We have three elections (on average) a year here in my little part of NJ. That includes separate elections (and in some cases primaries) for fire chief, school board, school budget, mayor, governor, and pres/congress. For our 1000 ballots (which coincidentally is the number of voters give or take 100 here), the cost at the NJ printing office in Mt. Holly (I got a quote) is $750 per election. So in twelve elections, the DRE starts paying for itself. That is four years where I live.

The lightning strike will screw up the scanner as well. Any natural disaster will screw up a polling place. The issue of delays occur with either type of machine. I have voted both ways several times. The line can be the same at either type of voting. That is usually that lack of management of the election officials to anticipate the number of polling places needed and of people to man the check in process. I have been behind the scenes at several elections over many states and there are some people who manage the flow of people like a professional at an amusement park and some that pile everyone outside in the rain.

I really am not trying to sing a DRE's praises. I just know what the arguments that are made in RFPs across the country. I have seen the cost analysis in detail. I have read winning RFPs so I know that the numbers were real not some company trying to get in on the action.

The arguments about the old ladies and the voters not being able to use the complicated machines will fall on deaf ears. I took a survey of election workers at a large California county (>500,000 voters). Of the 1200 poll workers, the average age was 59. 85% of them had an email address. The registrar in that county had monthly training throughout the year. She had maps of every polling place with the layout of the traffic flow and check in areas. I wish that there were enough of her to go around.

This topic is Election Reform. We have to talk more about the entire process here. I do not see enough talk about the polling places, the training, voter registration, and campaign practices. If it is scattered elsewhere then good.

I just was so frustrated with the focus so much on the ballot that we loose sight of the people and their roles in elections.

Thanks for letting me vent. My brother in law was right to let it out. Feels better.

Thanks and peace.