May 18, 2007 By Amy Zalar 6 min read

An extensive ballot and unfamiliarity with the new electronic voting machines apparently combined to make it a very long day for some of the Fayette County voters who took to the polls for Tuesday’s municipal primary. Laurie Lint, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau, said she spent most of Wednesday fielding complaints about problems that occurred throughout the county on Election Day. Lint said people complained that lines at the polls were too long and some voters complained that they didn’t like the machines. Tuesday marked only the third election with the machines, which replaced the lever machines that were used in the county for decades.

Fred Lebder, chairman of the Fayette County Democratic Party, said a lot of people did not vote. Lebder said it took him 45 minutes to vote at Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown and he spoke with someone who said it took an hour and 15 minutes for him to vote.

“There is no question a lot of people went to the polls and didn’t vote because of the time factor,” Lebder said. “When I was there people left (without voting).”

Last year, the county commissioners voted to purchase 268 eSlate voting machines from Hart Intercivic of Texas, after a federal mandate requiring the purchase of electronic machines throughout the country. The machines cost $2,500 each.

The eSlate voting machines are not touch-screen machines; instead, voters must turn a dial and push buttons to register their choices on the screen. “The machines are probably the worst things they could have gotten,” Lebder said, although he added that once you vote on them, they are not that bad.

Lebder said in elections with the old lever machines, there was always a model machine at every poll, but nothing like that is being done today.

Vincent Zapotosky, who received one of the two Democratic nominations for Fayette County commissioner, said the county commissioners should have invested in more voter-friendly machines.

“I saw people walk away,” Zapotosky said. “This dial thing is ridiculous.”

Zapotosky said he knows of at least one woman who votes at Clark School in North Union Township who did not vote. “I lost a vote at Clark School,” Zapotosky said.

According to unofficial results with 103 out of 103 precincts reporting, 27,590 of the county’s 89,403 registered voters went to the polls, or slightly less than 31 percent. Lebder had predicted a turnout of about 44 percent.

Lebder said some people might not have come out to vote because they were in doubt of the machines. He said the machines used in the county are not the ones the election director recommended.

Sushila Warman, judge of elections for Uniontown’s First Ward where voting is held at the Jewish Community Center, said the lines were so long that the final ballot wasn’t cast until 9:30 p.m., an hour and a half after the polls closed.

Warman said the two voting machines at that polling place were insufficient to accommodate voters, especially with such a lengthy ballot for city residents.

“Many discouraged people left without voting at all and it appears Ward 1 was not the only precinct in this predicament,” said Warman, urging the the commissioners to purchase additional machines.

Lint said it is not uncommon for polling places to remain open after voting ends at 8 p.m., particularly when there is a longer ballot.

Commission Chairwoman Angela M. Zimmerlink, who visited several polling places throughout Tuesday, said she received both negative and positive feedback from people. Among the negative feedback was a woman who had difficulty finding a parking place at the Jewish Community Center, a judge of election at Redstone Recreation Center typing in the access code too soon (which expires in 10 minutes if you have not logged into a machine) and long lines at Third Presbyterian Church in Uniontown.

Among the complaints that have been made to the Herald-Standard are that some people inadvertently voted before they were finished making their selections.

Lint said what voters need to remember is that hitting the “cast ballot” light “is the same as opening the curtain” with the old lever machines, only when you push it, the voting session is over.

Zimmerlink said that although for most voters this was the third time using the machines, “some people young and old alike did forget how to use them.” Zimmerlink said she did not get any complaints from people who left without voting, but did talk to one person who said they felt like leaving.

Zimmerlink said since the machines were purchased, she believes the county has made great improvements in getting the word out. She said prior to the primary, HSTV and Armstrong Cable ran instructional videos, and the county libraries had tapes on hand and an interactive demonstration is available on the county’s Web site.

Zimmerlink said that additionally, a sample machine was available outside the election bureau office in the Public Safety Building for the past few weeks. She said she doesn’t agree that at this time purchasing additional machines is the answer. “People need to realize it is not an issue of money. There are ways to make additional improvements,” Zimmerlink said.

The number of machines at each precinct was determined last year by calculating the number of voters and average turnout in the last several elections, Zimmerlink said. “We purchased more than we thought we needed,” she said.

Last year’s primary and general elections went more smoothly, with Zimmerlink saying she believes the lengthy ballot this time around contributed to problems.

She said in addition to the public demonstrations held for the machines, there are instructions in the voting booth and posters outside the voting booths. Zimmerlink said the she is not necessarily an advocate of the electronic machines, saying she would have kept the lever machines if that were an option. She said the new machines make the voter more aware of what they are doing because you have to take your time and read.

Although Zimmerlink said she heard from about a half-dozen people that the county should have purchased touch screen machines, she believes the dial machines are more voter friendly than the other ones the commissioners could have chosen.

Regarding training, Zimmerlink and Lint both said there were seven training sessions for judges of elections to familiarize them with the machines.

Zimmerlink said she plans to schedule additional demonstrations to make voters familiar with the machines before the November election. She added that she believes the people most familiar with the machines, namely the county election bureau employees, should handle the demonstrations.