YOU ARE HERE: Central Kentucky Home→Collections→General Election

Grayson checks out new voting machines in Boyle

May 14, 2008|JESSE OSBOURNE

Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson made an appearance at the Boyle County courthouse Thursday morning to check out the county's new voting machines.

Also with Grayson were 54th district representative Mike Harmon and retired businessman Basil Turbyfill.

The machines are electronic but still leave a paper trail that allow the votes to be hand counted if need be, according to County Clerk Denise Curtsinger. Curtsinger also said that if the machine breaks down, voting continues.

Voting will work something like this: Voters will get a paper ballot, take it over to a small, private table or booth, fill out the ballot, sign the bottom of the ballot, tear off the bottom and feed the ballot into the scanner. Voters will drop any spoiled ballots and signed slips into a slot on the side. Having signatures allows votes to be checked against a precinct roster.

Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney said he thinks voters will like filling out a paper ballot.

Curtsinger believes the machines will eliminate some of the lines that election day has brought in the past.

The machines replace the previous 1242 models that were purchased in 1985, according to Curtsinger. A machine for each Boyle precinct, 25 in all, was purchased. Each machine cost roughly $4,500 and was bought with leftover federal grant money. Curtsinger emphasized the grant is made up of taxpayer money but it did not come out of the county budget.

The new voting machines will be used for the upcoming primaries. Curtsinger thinks it will be a good time to test out the new machines before the general election in the fall.

Curtsinger also said the machines have been tested and they will not accept Xerox copies of a ballot. They also will not initially accept a ballot that has more than one vote for any selection. The machine will recognize that the ballot is "over-voted" and give the voter a chance to vote again or simply let the ballot pass through while voiding the part that has multiple selections.

Grayson and Coffman were very excited to see the machines come to Boyle County. Coffman and McKinney also tested the machine. After a little bit of trouble completing directions on the ballot and some hiccups on the machine's part, both were able to participate in a fictitious election.

|

|

|