by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
According to the Supervisor of Elections Office, approximately one third of the nearly 3,000 votes recorded at their downtown facilities on or before Tuesday, were made through new touch screen technology.
Priced at $3,800 each, the machines garnered an “overwhelmingly positive reaction.”
“We are very, very pleased,” said spokesperson Erin Moody. “We couldn’t have asked for a smoother operation and I think people who might have been unsure of the touch screens should feel more confident now.”
Moody said only three touch screen machines were in place Tuesday and had there been less of a wait, more voters may have been open to trying them.
“It’s hard to say, but we did notice that when it wasn’t quite as busy more people were walking directly up to them,” she said. “They wanted to try them.”
Moody said standard optical scanning equipment was also available at the elections office.
“We understand there is still a little bit of an apprehension with this new system because some people still want to see a paper trail,” said Moody, “so we felt it was necessary to keep that option open.”
Moody said voters who were either unable or unwilling to use the touch screens Tuesday would still have another chance.
“You’ll see them again,” she said. “At the general election in November the touch screens will be available.”
Though “very happy” with the machine’s early success, Moody wouldn’t speculate on more touch screens appearing at other polling locations.
“We are satisfied with their success this time around, but more discussions will have to take place, questions will have to be answered, before we can even think about adding more machines,” she said. “That’s assuming we could cover the huge cost impact that would come with them.”