Dateline: May 5, 2005

Commissioners vote to consolidate voting boxes

By Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

The Donley County Commissioners’ Court last week voted in favor of consolidating selected voting boxes in response to the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA).

Meeting in a called session on Friday, the court consolidated Box 103 at Martin Baptist Church with Box 101 at the Bairfield Activity Center, merged Box 302 at Lelia Lake with Box 301 at the Clarendon Community Center, and combined Box 402 at the McClellan House in the northern part of the county with Box 401 in Clarendon.

Commissioners decided to keep Boxes 102 and 303 in Howardwick and Hedley respectively. County Judge Jack Hall said the court’s action was based partly on voter turnout.

The consolidations, which still have to be approved by the United States Department of Justice, bring the total number of polling places in Donley County to six. This represents a reduction from nine polling places and should mean a significant savings to the county, which is under a HAVA mandate to provide a Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machine in each polling place.

DREs are expected to cost about $5,500 each in addition to the cost of maintenance, software, and training. One company had proposed setting up DREs for the county for $96,000 plus a $6,000 per year maintenance contract.

County officials originally had been told that they would receive $30,000 in federal aid to help pay for the machines, and local taxpayers would have to bear the remainder of the cost.

But last Thursday, one state official told Judge Hall that Donley County is slated to get much more money.

“We spoke with Dan Glotzer with the Secretary of State’s office, and he said we’re to receive $105,000,” Hall said.

According to Glotzer, the county would get $35,000 to help pay for the machines and $70,000 for training. But the judge quickly noted that the county does not have that news in writing and said Glotzer did not know when the money would be dispersed, where the money is now, or what process the county had to follow to get the money.

“We’re real hopeful that the state comes through with the money,” Hall said. “We hope things progress in such a way that we can get it all done and have no indebtedness. But we don’t have the money in hand yet.”

Hall said state official have told him that Donley County is in line with what most counties around the state are doing, consolidating polling places to save money on DREs. He said a few counties are ignoring HAVA and hoping that “it just goes away,” but he said its better for Donley County to be prepared when the HAVA mandate takes effect January 1, 2006.