Voters Invited To ‘Test Drive’ New Voting Machines

By John Voket

Newtown Registrars of Voters are inviting residents to “test drive,” the state’s new optical scan and audio assisted voting technologies in the last month before Election Day. Newtown was among just 20 municipalities chosen to pilot the state’s new electronic voting system, which is designed to bring Connecticut into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

Beginning this Saturday, and continuing on October 21, 28, and November 4, residents are welcome to go to the lower courtroom in Edmond Town Hall from 9 am to noon to test the new optical scanners, which are designed to read ballots voters will complete with a felt-tip pen.

Instead of entering a voting machine and pulling down levers, voters will choose candidates in similar fashion to completing a Lotto form or a standardized test, marking “bubbles” on paper ballots in one of the privacy booths that will be available at local polling precincts November 7.

As part of the HAVA requirement, each polling place will also have a headset device attached to a phone that will allow voters to verbally cast their votes. Once a voter completes the ballot using the audio assisted device, a ballot will be printed out containing the preprinted markings similar to those completed by hand.

The printout will be accepted into the optical scanner, and registered the same way as a hand printed ballot. Voters who want to experience the audio assisted technology from their home can use any phone to call 866-494-8683, toll free.

After an electronic greeting, a prompt to hit the star key and punch in the ballot access identification number 101 on the telephone keypad will activate the test program, Registrar LeReine Frampton explained.

“After that, the experience will be identical to what voters will do at the polls,” Ms Frampton said. “They can practice from home as many times as they want. And if they want to try the scanner in person, they can just come to town hall any Saturday morning — bring the whole family.”

Ms Frampton believes the more voters who try out the new systems before Election Day, the less self-conscious people will feel when it comes time to cast actual ballots November 7.

Anyone interested in registering to vote may do so during the Saturday morning sessions through October 28. Except for a select few circumstances, October 31 will be the last day to register to vote in this year’s election.

“The only exceptions are people relocating to town, those who become 18-years-old, or who become US citizens between November 1 and 6,” she said. Those turning 18 before November 7 can also preregister to vote by showing proof of their birth date at the Registrars office Tuesday through Thursday between 8 am and 2 pm.

“We want to make the entire voting experience as easy as possible,” Ms Frampton said. With the new voting technology in place, voters will have a slightly different procedure on Election Day.

“Voters will go to a check-in line and show their ID. Then they will receive a ballot from a separate person and proceed to a privacy booth to fill in the bubbles,” she explained.

“On the way out, they will drop their ballot into the scanner, and as long as the form is accepted, their votes will be registered,” she added.

Voters need not worry if they make a mistake on the ballot, because the scanner will reject the form and give them a chance to complete it correctly, or get a new form. Each polling place will also have a DVD training video playing continuously throughout the day, guiding voters through the process.

“If a voter wants to use the phone system, they simply ask the ballot clerk,” Ms Frampton said. “And they don’t have to be handicapped or impaired to use the audio assisted device.”

She said voters are not obliged to vote for every office, either. As long as at least one office is marked correctly, the scanner will accept the form.

Since the new equipment will be somewhat challenging for poll workers and election officials, a representative from the company that supplies the equipment held an orientation workshop last week.

John Sullivan from LHS Associates assured poll workers that the new equipment was virtually mistake proof. He guided workers through many different scenarios and patiently answered every question, often accompanied by a reinforcing demonstration on the actual equipment.

“The mechanics of the machine are very simple,” Ms Frampton concluded. “It scans, it counts, and it rejects the paper if there is a problem.”