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Orange to buy voting machines

Orange Electoral Board makes successful pitch for new voting machines in county

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

Date published: 6/17/2007

BY ROBIN KNEPPER

The three members of the Orange County Electoral Board take their appointed jobs very seriously.

That dedication paid off last week when the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to buy new voting machines for the growing county.

That was a pleasant surprise, since, after six weeks of trying, the Electoral Board hadn't even been able to get on the supervisors' agenda.

But they did their homework and they prevailed.

They had studied voter turnout at all nine of the county's precincts in both presidential and non-presidential election years and determined that the numbers will only grow. They found that they didn't have enough machines to use for demonstration purposes and to educate new voters.

They knew that there were no backup machines if there were breakdowns on Election Day. They knew the machines had to be ordered by June 30 in order to comply with state law.

They determined that the county needed 10 new voting machines and the Board of Supervisors needed to OK spending $40,000 to pay for them.

After unsuccessfully trying to get a spot on the supervisors' agenda since the first of May, they called all the supervisors to tell them that they would make their pitch at Tuesday's board meeting.

At the last minute, they found they weren't on the agenda after all. County Administrator Bill Rolfe told them that a decision had already been made to not purchase any more voting machines.

So they took matters into their own hands and showed up prepared to make their pitch during the public-comment period. Board Chairman Mark Johnson, finding them all at the meeting and knowing what they wanted, added their cause to the agenda as the meeting started.

Electoral Board Secretary Gloria Gilmore presented the board's findings and request. Vice Chairman Marty Caldwell added the technical backup with facts and figures about the equipment. Chairman Don Namuth sat contentedly and let the ladies take care of presenting the arguments.

"After the ladies explained that the federal and state governments are working on requirements for voting machines but that the machines are not available yet, we better understood the situation," Johnson said. " "We'll be buying more machines just like the ones we have."

"I thought they were very effective," he added. "The board voted to give them just what they wanted."

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Date published: 6/17/2007