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Will all votes be counted in election?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
HAMILTON — Despite pending litigation and uncertainty of what caused some Butler County votes to nearly be missed in the March primary, officials here say they have no choice but to use existing voting machines in the November election.
Butler County Board of Election Chairman Tom Ellis said the county will use the voting machines unless they're told otherwise by Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner.
"We will assure them (the public) that the voting will be properly handled," Ellis said.
But even if they wanted to, both Ellis and Board of Elections Director Betty McGary said there wouldn't be time to switch systems at this point.
"From the timing standpoint, it would be extremely difficult to make such a change, if not impossible," Ellis said.
Officials are still analyzing what caused more than 200 votes from West Chester Twp. to almost go uncounted after the March primary and April recount. After being first reported in Butler County, 10 other counties were found to have the same problem. Statewide, 44 counties use these machines.
The state is now counter-suing Premier Election Solutions for damages after the company sued for a declaration that its contract was fulfilled.
The leading theory is that the voting machine software conflicted with anti-virus software. Premier Spokesman Chris Riggal said the company has a software patch to fix this, but it could take years to get through federal approval. In the meantime, Riggal said the company has protocols in place to address any problems that arise.
"We're continuing to study the issue. We're continuing to assess any corrective measures that we can put in place, but what we already have in place, frankly, is going to address that," he said.
Kevin Kidder, Brunner spokesman, said he's also confident every vote will be counted. His office is rushing to put practices in place to ensure that.
"We've never lost a vote because of the problems we cite in the counterclaim because election officials have caught them," Kidder said. "We can't prevent it. We can only catch the problem and correct it."
To put voters at ease the Secretary of State's office is requiring county boards of election to carry paper ballots for one quarter of all registered voters. Ellis said Butler County may request even more.
