New voting machines coming to Scott County in November

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By Kurt Allemeier | Tuesday, June 24, 2008 |

Bill Vanderburg, vice president of Henry M. Adkins & Son Inc., demonstrates a voting machine to the Scott County Board of Supervisors Tuesday that is compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act. (Larry Fisher/Quad-City Times) Buy this Photo

New and expensive voting equipment that meets Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines will be available to disabled Scott County voters in the next election.

The Scott County Auditor’s Office unveiled the equipment Tuesday that replaces current touchscreen machines to provide a paper ballot for voting records. The new equipment will be used by voters who need the special equipment for the first time in the November general election.

Other voters will continue to use optical scan voting machines as in the past.

The state spent $322,560 to purchase 63 of the special voting machines for the county, Mark Sokolik of the Scott County Auditor’s Office said. The county is purchasing two additional voting machines for backup, at a cost of $10,240. A maintenance contract is estimated at $8,000 to $10,000 per year.

“For the two years we’ve used them, we had very little use for them,” Sokolik said about the previous ADA-compatible equipment. One-tenth of 1 percent of Scott County voters used the equipment.

Disabled voters tend to vote absentee, Sokolik said, often getting assistance from a spouse or caregiver.

“Over coffee in the morning tends to be the most tranquil place to do it,” he said.

The auditor’s office has already received more than 400 absentee ballot applications for the Nov. 4 election, Sokolik said.

The difference between this equipment and previous voting equipment for disabled voters is that it prints out a paper ballot that is read by a scanner to count the vote. Early equipment only recorded the vote, but the new machines provide a paper trail.

The equipment is easy to use with simple instructions, said Bill Vanderburg of Henry M. Adkins and Son, the company providing the equipment. A voter can use a touch screen like the previously used machine and also be guided by audio instructions. Sip and puff features are also available for use with the machines.

The machine has a battery backup in case power is lost at the polling place for any length of time. It also is compatible with nine languages, but only English will be used on Iowa ballots.

Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com.