Dateline: April 7, 2005

Voting machines costly for county taxpayers

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 will soon help itself to Donley County tax dollars as local officials grapple with a federal edict that requires new voting machines in every polling place.

“This is just another unfunded mandate from the federal government that has very little to do with life in rural America,” County Judge Jack Hall said.

Passed after the election snafus that plagued Florida in 2000, HAVA requires all counties to have one accessible voting machine, also known as a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machine, in each polling place by January 1, 2006.

Donley County has ten voting boxes, and County Clerk Fay Vargas said DREs are expected to cost $5,500 each in addition to the cost for software, setup, and special apparatuses for the blind.

“The only state-certified price I have is $96,000 plus a $6,000 per year maintenance contract,” Vargas said.

Currently, Donley County spends about $5,500 to conduct an election with paper ballots.

The county expects to get up to $30,000 in federal assistance to pay for the machines, but the balance of the cost and the ongoing expense must be borne by local taxpayers.

“I keep hearing that we’re going to get more money, but I don’t see it coming,” Vargas said.

Vargas and Hall agree that the idea behind the law – to make it easier for the disabled to vote – is good, but they both think that one machine at the Courthouse Annex should suffice for the entire county. Vargas said the government should allow a variance for small counties, and Hall said having a DRE in each polling place is too much of a burden on local taxpayers.

But with no variance available and no more federal funds in sight, county officials are doing what they can to keep the cost down and are taking steps to consolidate voting locations from ten down to six.

A public hearing will be held April 21 at 6 p.m. in the District Courtroom to get input on the proposal, which consolidates Box 103 at Martin Baptist Church with Box 101 at the Bairfield Activity Center, Box 301 at the Clarendon Community Center and Box 302 at Lelia Lake with Box 303 at the Hedley Lions Hall, and Box 402 at the McClellan residence with Box 401 at Community Bank.

Boxes 201 at the Courthouse and 102 at Howardwick City Hall would be left unchanged.

County officials will also hold a demonstration of a DRE in the District Courtroom next Tuesday at 2 p.m.