Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE), an electronic voter registration system, will be available online in Centre County on Feb. 17 after the county completes its test mode.

The SURE system will record voter information online, making the data accessible to election officials. The central database will allow officials to prevent voters from being registered to vote in more than one county.

Initially, all 67 counties were supposed to have the SURE system activated in time for Pennsylvania's April 27 primary. However, not all of the counties will be online by then, and it's possible they won't be ready for November's general election.

"We're eager and excited to work with the counties in getting the system into place," said Brian McDonald, a spokesman for the Department of State.

Currently, each county maintains its own voter registration system. Centre County will have to adapt from its in-house program designed by RBA Professional Data Systems of State College to the SURE system.

"Our system, in our opinion, is more user-friendly, and the capabilities right now are greater than what the SURE system appears to have," said Joyce McKinley, director of elections for Centre County. "[SURE] will make voter registration uniform throughout the state."

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 stipulated that by Jan. 1, 2006, all states must introduce and maintain an official statewide online voter registration system.

The system must be accessible to all state election officials, be compatible with other state voter registration systems and contain registration information on all registered voters. Each voter will be given an identification number. Act 3 of 2002, a related state statute, requires that the system be activated by Jan. 1, 2005.

Thirteen counties are online with the SURE system: Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bucks, Butler, Cumberland, Dauphin, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Perry and Somerset.

"I think uniting the counties is a good thing, but complete uniformity is bad," Sarah Ayers (sophomore-health policy) said.

Jillian Carter (junior-psychology) also supported a more centralized program across all counties.

"If it's a more collaborative effort, although everyone may not be satisfied, everyone feels as if they've had some input. Their ideas have been acknowledged," Carter said.

InfoSENTRY Services, Inc., a North Carolina technology-consulting business, completed an independent quality review of the SURE system. Glenn Newkirk, president of InfoSentry Services, said the review found that the SURE system had performance problems. For example, the software program did not perform fast enough when it was put under heavy stress.

"We're willing to work continuously with the counties to make sure that the problem is taken care of quickly and efficiently. It won't stop us from meeting the statutory requirements," McDonald said.

Mary Stehman is the chief registrar for Lancaster County and a member of the SURE Advisory Board. Lancaster is currently in the test mode of using the SURE system and will go live after the April primary.

The county is currently using an in-house system designed by its information technology department.

"The concept is excellent. It will be wonderful when we're all connected," Stehman said.