A Peek at Our New Voting Machines

This is a guest blog by Suzanne Prescott:
The September 13th election official training for the September 19 APS bond election included an added surprise - those who attended got a look at the new voting machines which will be used in the November general election. Hand-completed paper ballots will be tabulated by an optical scanner. The training leader explained that he was fond of the old machines and had programmed them himself. However he said the new machines would work well and proceeded to demonstrate what the voting process would be like with the new machines.

He said nothing about the concerns raised by election reform groups but did mention that his office had received phone calls with concerns about using paper ballots. To be fair, since the machines are brand new the trainer had not had much experience handling questions about the machines. When asked about the cost he said each machine cost $3250.00. But then a person asked how election officials should respond if a voter asked how he/she could be sure that their ballot had cast their vote accurately. The trainer verbally tap danced for a bit and finally patted the new machine's "tub" (where the actual paper ballots are stored by the machine) and said that the physical paper ballots were safe inside the machine. However, look at the key hanging from the machine's "tub" in the picture - not confidence inspiring. 

They also unveiled (it really was covered with a cloth) the machine which will be used to help disabled voters.

The trainer concluded by saying the actual voting process for the November election involved many details which they had not yet received from current Secretary of State, Rebecca Vigil-Giron.  He added that there will be additional trainings on the new machines prior to the November election.

Help Out With Election and Get Paid
They still need more election officials for the November election. They could really use your help. If you can help, call the Bernalillo County Clerk, Mary Herrera’s office at 505 468-1291. It pays $125. for the day plus the training session.

This is a guest blog by Suzanne Prescott, who contributes often to the discussion here. If you'd like to submit an article for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of our main page.