After all the lawsuits, committee meetings, debates, bidding wars and protests, the local area finally got to see the future of voting on Sept. 9.
It didn't look so sinister: a large black box with a brightly colored knobs and buttons, sort of a cross between a child's toy and a futuristic oven. A video screen rises from its side almost inquisitively, like a face turned to greet you. Meet the ballot-marking device, or BMD, soon to make the old-fashioned lever machines obsolete.
On Nov. 4, voters will have the option of using either machine.
County boards of elections are preparing to "say a sweet goodbye" to the old machines, as Delaware County Republican Elections Commissioner Bill Campbell put it.
We can't help but feel a twinge of sadness as we imagine these stalwarts heading off to some junk heap. There is more at stake here than nostalgia, however; there are still serious concerns that this new technology could pose unexpected challenges.
Otsego County Deputy Elections Commissioner Sheila Ross acknowledged that "there could be glitches" with the new machines, but that the BMDs have been tested to her satisfaction. It's difficult, however, to predict what will actually happen on Election Day.
Lever machines were not without their problems. Machines broke down, got stuck or had other difficulties from time to time. The main difference was that the old machines could be fixed with a screwdriver and some elbow grease; the new machines _ well, quite frankly, we don't know what types of problems they might have or how those problems will be fixed.
Optical scanner votes in Iowa and New Hampshire have been challenged, but the advantage of these systems _ the same type local voters will be using _ is that they produce a paper trail.
True, that paper trail is just as subject to squabbles over "voter intent" as the infamous Florida "hanging chad" ballots were in 2000. But as one Florida elections supervisor told the New York Times earlier this year, the paper ballot has a clarity that touch-screens lack. "I like that certainty," Ion Sancho said. "The paper ends the discussion" about how a ballot appeared to voters.
The upcoming election affords New Yorkers an opportunity to use optical scanners while knowing that the majority of votes will still be cast on the familiar lever machines.
We encourage voters who go to the polls this November to check out the new machines. Anyone can use them, handicapped or not, giving us all a chance to see the future firsthand and an opportunity to test things out while there's still time to fix any problems that arise.
