Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Tuesday 14 March 2017
States scramble for funding to upgrade aging voting machines

DAVID SALEH RAUF tag pushed through,” said
Associated Press Donnell Preskey Hushka, a
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — At government relations spe-
least once a year, staff- cialist for the North Dakota
ers in one of Texas’ largest Association of Counties.
election offices scour the Some machines are no lon-
web for a relic from a by- ger manufactured, making
gone technology era: Zip it hard to find replacement
disks. parts. Others, like those in
The advanced version of Texas’ Bexar County, re-
the floppy disk that was quire election workers to
cutting edge in the mid- track down obsolete ma-
1990s plays a vital role in tal- terials.
lying votes in Bexar County, Voting machines national-
where like other places ly mostly survived the strain
around the U.S., money to of the 2016 election. But
replace antiquated voting there were some mishaps,
equipment is scarce. including long lines attrib-
“I’d be dead in the water uted to faulty systems and
without our technical sup- computer crashes, along
port people looking online with reports from some
to buy the pieces and parts people that they chose
to keep us going,” said one candidate only to
Jacque Callanen, elec- In this Thursday, March 9, 2017 photo, a stack of zip disks and a tray of compact flash cards are see electronic voting ma-
seen at the Bexar County Elections office, in San Antonio.
tions administrator in the Associated Press chines switch their selec-
county that includes San tion as they finished their
Antonio and had 1 million- in his budget request that it ballot. “The big fear is a
plus registered voters in the cost more than $100 million repeat of the Florida 2000
2016 election. to replace old machines election,” said Lawrence
Purchased in 2002, Bexar with money from the U.S. Norden, who co-authored
County’s voting equip- government in 2005. the Brennan Center’s vot-
ment is among the oldest Legislation in Texas would ing machine report.
in Texas. The Zip disks the create a program for Dean Logan, Los Angeles
county uses to help merge counties to apply for a County’s elections chief,
results and allow paper state grant to cover up to said it requires “herculean
ballots to be tallied with half the cost to replace efforts to maintain systems
final election totals are no voting machines. and keep the process mov-
longer manufactured, so In North Dakota, lawmak- ing” for most counties using
staff members snap them ers recently rejected pro- outdated equipment.
up by the dozens off of posals for $12 million to re- “Voters should be aware
eBay and Amazon. In this Thursday, March 9, 2017 photo, a stack of zip disks and place voting equipment, that without funding ... this
Elections officials in states a tray of compact flash cards sit at the Bexar County Elections even after being told ma- is only going to get worse,”
large and small — from office, in San Antonio. chines could be unwork- said Logan, who is also
Texas to North Dakota, Cal- Associated Press able by the next presiden- president of the California
ifornia to Ohio — are eager Washington, so the states tion rights. Election officials tial cycle. The secretary of Association of Clerks and
to replace aging machines are going to have to figure in a least 31 states want to state has since rolled the Election Officials. “We all
but are grappling with how this out on their own.” purchase new voting ma- funding request into his recognize we are main-
to fund next-generation The U.S. government last chines in the coming years, budget proposal in hopes taining outdated systems.
voting equipment. ponied up big for elec- according to a 2015 report lawmakers will reconsider. We’re just waiting for both
It’s a race against time, toral infrastructure up- from the center. Most, how- “You can’t fix our machines the funding and the prod-
experts warn, as outdat- grades in the wake of the ever, don’t know where anymore, but it’s hard to ucts to lead us into the
ed technology grows in- 2000 presidential elec- they’ll get the money. get anything with a price future.”q
creasingly susceptible to tion — when paper-ballot California’s secretary of
potentially critical mal- problems wreaked havoc state has projected it could
functions. All of this comes on Florida’s recount. The cost up to $450 million to
as President Donald Trump 2002 Help America Vote replace voting machines
promises to launch an in- Act provided $4 billion to there.
vestigation into unfounded states, but that money is In Arkansas, lawmakers two
voter fraud allegations and largely gone. With many years ago approved $30
tensions are rising over for- state legislatures unwilling million for new statewide
eign meddling in U.S. elec- to allocate funding, elec- voting systems. But the
tions. tion officials are left scram- appropriation was never
“The machines in many bling to make do. funded, so the secretary
cases are 10, 12-years old. Forty-three states used ma- of state’s office used left-
That’s ancient history in chines that were at least a over money in its budget to
terms of technology,” said decade old and nearing improve equipment for a
Denise Merrill, the top elec- the end of their lifespans small slice of the state. It’s
tion official in Connecticut during November’s presi- again asking the Legisla-
and president of the Na- dential election, accord- ture for money.
tional Association of Secre- ing to the Brennan Center Ohio’s elections chief also In this Thursday, March 9, 2017 photo, a zip disk drive and dot
taries of State. “I don’t see for Justice, which advo- is asking state lawmakers matrix printer sit at the Bexar County Elections office in San
any money coming from cates for protecting elec- for help for counties, noting Antonio.
Associated Press