When Centre County voters elect a new president in November, they will do so using new voting machines -- at a cost of more than $900,000.
Centre County Commissioners voted 2-1 yesterday to purchase optical scan voting machines, which provide a paper record of votes, replacing the current touch-screen voting machines, which provide no paper record. One hundred optical scans and 100 AutoMark machines will be purchased at an estimated total cost of $924,500, Commissioner Rich Rogers said.
Discounts owed to the county of up to $250,000, including $140,000 in federal grant money will offset the cost, Rogers said.
The commissioners last week recommended replacing the current machines but still needed to decide whether to purchase or lease the machines.
"We debated back and forth the advan-
tages of both purchasing and leasing," Commissioner Jon Eich said. " ... With leasing, you're not stuck with a certain kind of technology. The disadvantage is at the end of the lease time period, you have to go out and make another choice."
It was important to Rogers that both sides of the issue be evaluated. If the commissioners had chosen not to replace the machines, they would still have had to buy 50 to 100 new touch-screen machines because one-touch screen machine must be available to accommodate every 200 Centre County voters, while only one optical scan machine is needed for each precinct.
"The fact that we needed 50 to 100 more touch screens helped in the decision process," Rogers said.
Rogers and Eich voted for the proposal, while Commissioner Steve Dershem voted against it. Dershem did not return calls by press time yesterday.
The commissioners debated the merits of buying a new system versus leasing one, and ultimately decided buying is the best option.
Buying the machines is a good investment, Rogers said.
"I look at it as an asset for the county. These machines have a long life," Rogers said.
The machines are expected to last 15 to 20 years, one of the reasons Concerned Voters of Centre County (CVCC) rallied behind the machines. Chairwoman Mary Vollero is excited by the commissioners' decision.
"We are thrilled. Democracy is sometimes slower than we want it to be, but today proved when a group of people want to make a change in government, they can be effective," she said.
The original cost of the machines was estimated at $1.8 million, but that number was inflated because it included operating costs for the next four years, Vollero said.
Vollero understands some people don't want their tax money spent on new machines but said the benefits of the new machines are worth the costs.
"This is the cost of our freedom and the cost of our democracy," she said.
Obtaining new voting machines has always been CVCC's main issue, so the group will be shifting its focus to other issues such as voter registration and rights. The group also wants to increase the number of vote audits done by the state and help other counties who have not yet adopted the optical scan machines.
The new machines may attract more students to the polls, said Samantha Miller, Executive Vice President of the College Democrats.
The lack of a paper vote record made some students suspicious their vote wasn't being counted, she said.
"Voters couldn't trust the way their vote was counted," she said. " ... A paper record will ensure students' votes will count, and it will increase voter security."
Calls made to Alex Smith, College Republicans chairman, were not returned by press time yesterday.
The voting experience will be different from now on, Eich said.
"Voters will actually be handling the ballot rather than using a touch screen. They'll be in a voting booth coloring in the circles," Eich said.
