Electronic Voting Machines Debut at City Hall

More than 200 people came out to City Hall recently to try the new electronic voting machines during a demonstration given by the Westchester County Board of Elections.

Paula Redd Zeman, director of technical services for the Westchester County Board of Elections said the turnout was great, and that she had seen a steady stream of people, mostly seniors, coming in to try out the machine, which will benefit people with disabilities.

"Years ago, people with disabilities would have to go vote at centers that would have services for the disabled. With these machines, every polling place is now Americans with Disabilities Act compliant," said Zeman.

Zeman said the primary reason for the change in federal legislation was to make it easier for people with disabilities to vote. According to Zeman, the machines live up to their intended purpose.

"If you have Parkinson's disease and you shake, you can vote on this machine. Christopher Reeves could vote on this machine," she said.

For blind voters, people will be on hand to read them the ballot, or they can choose to vote on Braille ballots. 

All the basics about voting are the same. Write-in ballots will be allowed, and every ballot and all instructions will be printed in both English and Spanish.

Susan Kettner, a New Rochelle attorney who is currently running for city court judge, stopped by to try out the machines.

"The new machines are certainly different as to what we are accustomed and it will take some getting used to for most people," said Kettner, "In the long run, with input from the electorate, I am very hopeful that the new machines will prove to be more voter-friendly and efficient.  Like most things there is a learning curve," she said.

Zeman asked for a volunteer to place a practice vote on a real ballot for their favorite flavor of ice cream.

Then Zeman instructed the crowd on how to vote on a step-by-step basis.

As always, voters will greet the election official and sign in. The election official will then hand the voter a paper ballot. Next, the voter walks to a desk that has a special pen, where the voter can fill in their selection by coloring in the bubble. Finally, the voter approaches the new optical voting machines and feeds the paper ballot into the machine. It automatically sucks up the ballot, and an electronic message will display if a vote was successfully cast, or if there is a problem with the ballot. 

According to Zeman, problems are very rare and easy to remedy.

"You can't over-vote," she said "If you try to vote for two people for the same office (held by one person) it will prompt you to return the ballot. "

A mistaken voter gets three chances to fix their mistake, after the third, a Board of Elections official is called to intervene.

No need to worry about potential fraud, said Zeman, "Electioneers are required to destroy paper ballots that are incorrectly placed," she said, "They have a special garbage can to dispose of the ballots so that they are not cast."

Editor's Note: Click on the PDF attached to this article to see Zeman's step-by-step PowerPoint presentation.