Funds for vote machines in bank

The money for new electronic voting machines is now in the bank.

As promised, the federal government has given Utah election officials an additional $16 million as part of the Help America Vote Act, most of which will be used for the purchase of voting machines to replace the current punch card ballots. When added to the more than $9 million previously received, the state has almost $26 million for election reform, Lt. Gov. Gayle McKeachnie said.

The new machines, which will probably be ATM-style touch-screens, will cost approximately $20.5 million to provide each county with one machine for every 150 voters. Come election day, that ratio will ensure that voters are not waiting too long, even during the busiest times, McKeachnie said, especially as more people vote early.

"We think we have enough money to buy enough machines for every county," he said. "Each county would always like more machines. . . but we've done some things to try and reduce the lines during prime time hours."

While the money has come as expected, the purchase of the machines has been delayed slightly, primarily to accommodate incoming Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, McKeachnie said. A demonstration of the machines the state is considering, originally scheduled for this week, will most likely happen in January.

"He wants to get on board and help determine how the money is spent," McKeachnie said of Herbert's request to delay the purchase.

The federal funding is close to the total amount needed for election reforms in the state. All that's needed is $3 million to create a rotating fund for the future purchase of more machines. If the federal government does not provide the money, it would most likely fall to the counties to find money as they grow for additional machines.

Along with the new machines, the money is also being used to train judges and educate voters.

The voting reforms are necessary to replace the punch card ballots which have caused some problems in Utah and other states, Utah Elections Director Amy Naccarato said, most notably a miscount of more than 30,000 ballots in Utah County this past November.

"We've had pretty good success with punch cards, but there have been some problems," she said. "There is a trend to get away from the punch cards, and we will not be using them in the future."

---

E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com