Company to purchase voting machine for the visually impaired

The blind and visually impaired will be able to vote unassisted in Vigo County precincts starting in the 2006 Primary Election in May.The voters will be aided with a voting machine that uses a headphone set to instruct the voter on how to cast a ballot.The Vigo County Board of Commissioners this week unanimously approved a contract to purchase 95 voting machines for $457,942 from Election Systems & Software Inc. The county reached an agreement to pay for the equipment over a four-year period, with annual payments of $114,485.50.

The price includes software, election support services and maintenance.Vigo County is to be reimbursed the cost through the Indiana Election DivisionThe equipment is required under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. The act was passed to remove the punch card voting system from national use and to allow the handicapped to vote in the 2006 election.It mandates that visually impaired or blind be able to vote "through the use of at least one direct recording electronic voting system or other voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities at each polling place."

Vigo County paid more than $1.3 million for a five-year lease on its current optical scan voting system. Of that amount, the county was reimbursed $347,928 from the federal government. The Help America Vote Act required the additional voting machines, or the county could have been required to pay back the $347,928, said county attorney Bob Wright.

Vigo County presently has 87 voting precincts in 73 polling places, with some polling sites containing two precincts. Nearly all of those polling sites do not meet federal requirements under a federally mandated survey done under the Help America Vote Act.A state program called Count Us In surveyed all Vigo County polling places in 2004 for accessibility to the handicapped. Only two of 87 precincts met the standards, according to the survey.

The two precincts are in one polling place, the Hyte Center.Vigo County commissioners are responsible for setting polling sites under election law. Commissioners plan to form a committee next week to review the issue. Half of that eight-member committee will include elderly or disabled members.The county has paid its lease for its current optical scan voting machines through 2006 and has an option to buy the machines for an additional $60,000.

Vigo County Clerk Pat Mansard opposes this idea, saying a lease agreement includes full service with Election Systems & Software, which provides personnel to oversee the equipment to ensure it works properly on election day.