Most counties approved to use electronic voting machines will delay installation
By M.R. KROPKO
The Associated Press
5/27/2004, 5:25 p.m. ET
(AP) — Most of the 31 counties authorized to use electronic voting machines in the November election have informed the state they will stick with their old systems, with many saying they want to wait until the machines offer voters a way to check their selections.
Some of the 22 counties that have decided against using the touchscreen machines also said that they do not have enough time to install them after the bill authorizing the switch was signed May 7, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell said Thursday. Five of the counties will start using the machines in the November presidential election, and four remained uncertain or have not provided a response.
"The new standard is being established at the 11th hour of the process," said Blackwell, who met Thursday with the Ohio Association Election Officials. County election officials are experiencing "a lot of uncertainty, and when there is doubt there is very little movement forward."
Critics of electronic voting security have demanded that the machines provide a paper record of voters' decisions. Suppliers, such as North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold Inc., have not supplied the paper process because it had not been required.
Diebold has reaped a storm of criticism and even a call for a criminal investigation by California's top election official, who banned the company's newest touchscreen voting computers in four counties, citing concerns about security and reliability.
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