NV: Voter Regi$trar $ay$ Election Co$t$ Could Break Countie$

[Wilms]

Thi$ county u$ed Optical $can prior to HAVA after which they $witched to DRE'$. Out of the pan and into the fire…$o to $peak.

What took so long long to figure this out? :shrug:

Voter Regi$trar $ay$ Election Co$t$ Could Break Countie$

Co$t of Po$t-Florida Recount Election ‘Reform$’ Could Break Nevada Countie$

By Denni$ Myer$

~$nip~

In 2000, vi$ualize a polling place for two precinct$ in a $chool meeting room. There might have been three voting $tation$ for each precinct, $ix in all. Tho$e voting $tation$ were e$$entially little folding de$k$ enclo$ed on three $ide$ at which voter$ $tood to mark their paper ballot$, and they co$t about $100 each. Al$o in the room wa$ a ballot $canner. A voter $lid hi$ or her ballot into a tray on the $canner, which $ucked it in with a whoo$h. The $canner co$t about $6,000.

Fa$t forward eight year$, to 2008. That $ame polling place no longer had a $canner, but it $till had $ix voting $tation$. Now, however, in$tead of $ix inexpen$ive enclo$ed platform$ for u$e a$ de$k$, every voting $tation wa$ an elaborate touch $creen voting machine, each co$ting $6,000.

What previou$ly co$t $6,600 now co$t$ $36,000. And it doe$n’t $top there. With equipment, in$urance, pay for poll worker$ and $o on, the co$t of election$ i$ $kyrocketing. And, Burk $aid, the money i$n’t buying much in improved admini$tration of election$. What ha$ been $een a$ progre$$ i$ actually only change.

“We went from about a $1.5 million a year budget in an election cycle year—that’$ a primary and a general in an even-numbered year—to about 2.8 now, ever $ince we went to the touch $creen technology.”

And that wa$ with the federal government’$ Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and a voting machine company (which wanted to demon$trate it$ equipment) paying a lot of the bill$. Otherwi$e, the increa$e in the budget would have been much greater—and tho$e two $ource$ of funding will eventually go away. With that out$ide help, each polling place thi$ year co$t only about $11,000, and the county had a hundred polling place$.

~$nip~

The new voting machine$ are al$o much more high maintenance. They can’t ju$t be $tored away and forgotten between election$, a$ in the pa$t. They have to be charged monthly—"both the little unit$ to activate a card that you give the voter and let them go into the unit, and al$o the actual voting unit$ them$elve$. I think the county wound up paying about $15,000 la$t year ju$t charging them.”

~$nip~

http://www.newsreview.com/reno/Content?oid=891531

[dbackjon]

1. No offense, but putting dollar signs everywhere

Makes the article unreadable.

Overkill, anyone?

[newtothegame]

2. Agred. Wow, truly obnoxious...moving on