In the aftermath of the contested 2000 election, Franklin County, and other communities around the country, received a voting machine upgrade.
The touch screens were state of the art, but now they’re a decade old. While the machines may be in good shape for this year, some local and state leaders say the discussion to replace the aging systems should start now.
In technology years, Franklin County’s voting machines are ancient. The county used federal grants to buy the equipment the 10 years ago.
Workers are busy testing the machines for November’s election.
“Precinct number 9-2-2. Nine-twenty-two. Minerva Park A-1. We’re going to start on page two.”
Workers run a mock election to check for glitches in the county’s more than 4,300 voting machines.
“So far, so good," Bill Anthony, Franklin County Board of Elections director, said. "Our machines are in pretty good shape. We make sure we take care of them. We do a lot of preventative maintenance. Now we keep them in a nice temperature control warehouse.”
But like all technology, obsolescence nears.
“I am concerned, as anybody would be concerned. We don’t have the same mobile phones we had 10 years ago. You probably don’t have the same computer you used 10 years ago,” Anthony said. “So the good thing about this is that we only use these machines twice a year. It’s not 10 years of constant use like your home computer.”
Anthony expects the machines to hold up through 2020. Beyond that, he’s not sure.
Many county boards of elections around the country face similar situations. The 2002 federal Help America Vote Act helped states buy the machines. The equipment Franklin County purchased back then cost $15 million.
That money is gone, and just about every county in the country is looking to replace obsolete machines at the same time.
“It’s not going to be cheap. It’s not going to be implemented realistically like it was when we made the transition," State Representative Michael Stinziano said.
Stinziano is pushing lawmakers and local officials to take up the issue now, before there are breakdowns.
“Is this equipment what we want going forward? It is counter-productive right now to be buying similar machines because they aren’t being made anymore. When we need a part it turns into an interesting experience of finding out who may have what," Stinziano said. "And, again, the system, the integrity is sufficient, but it’s time to have a bigger discussion of what would the next model look like, what should the next system look like.”
Anthony said for the past five years he has petitioned the federal government to help pay for new machines. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted said the states may have to cover the cost.
“This is the age old problem where the federal government gets a good idea and mandates we use these certain kinds of machines, that’s great, but they’re very expensive. And once that they demand that you do it, they don’t fund it anymore," Husted said.
Husted said the state should be in a financial position to pick up most of the replacement cost for the antiquated machines. If not, there’s always the back up: paper ballots.