County okays paper for primary
Commissioners approve use of paper ballots for both parties, provided prior approval received by DOJ; Democratic Party says it will stick with machines
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

The Republican Party of Wharton County will be allowed to use paper ballots during the early voting for the March primary as long as the county receives prior approval from the Department of Justice.

County commissioners approved a recent motion allowing Republicans and Democrats to use the paper ballots if they prefer them.

Under Texas Election codes, while the individual parties are responsible for the primaries and Election Day, the county is responsible for conducting the early voting period.

Democratic Chairman Roger Benavidez said his party would stick with the iVotronic touchscreen voting machines currently used by the county. Democratic Committee member Joe King added it was time to start looking to build confidence in the equipment to encourage greater voter participation rather than raising questions.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Chris King led commissioners' support for paper ballots, reminding those attending he had always preferred using those ballots to electronic voting because it did create a paper trail.

King said the move away from paper ballots started with the controversial 2000 election and the voting problems in Florida.

"It was all because of the 2000 election fiasco," he said. "In Washington (D.C.) everyone is a crazy reactionist and the federal government over-reacted to what happened with the software companies influencing their decisions.

"It's turned out to be a disaster when with a little prethought and planning they could have come up with a workable solution.

"Instead they just whipped something out."

In discussing the Justice issue, County Election Administrator Judy Owens said the deadline for receiving department approval has passed and that if the county plans on allowing the Republicans to use paper ballots it will have to get an expedited approval for the change.

She added a sufficient number of ballots will have to be ordered by the party ahead of time even if the decision goes against the Republicans.

Party Chairwoman Debra Medina said she would be willing to accept the cost.

Medina added she didn't see the move to paper ballots as being a change.

"The party has been using the optical scan ballots for years," she said, adding she felt Justice approval wasn't needed because the move to the touch machines is making a change.

Owens pointed out the county commissioners' previous approval of the machine along with DOJ clearance to use them.

County Clerk Sandra Sanders and County Attorney Trey Maffett both added there might be problems with Justice approval if both parties don't make paper ballots for the early voting.

Owens added there will be an estimated $15,000 additional cost to using the paper ballots for early voting.

Of that figure, $4,600 would be labor costs for having to add additional workers.

Medina said she would be willing to cover the cost of ordering additional ballots, a cost reimbursable from the Texas Secretary of State Office, but not the labor costs.

When Owens said her current budget could not cover the additional cost, King made it a part of his motion to pay the $4,600 out of the county's contingency fund.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Jimmy Kainer was the only member of the court to vote against the motion, saying it was unfair for the Democrats or county taxpayers to have to pick up that cost, a position supported by Benavidez.

The Republicans based their request to use paper ballots on Internet research indicating several states, including Florida, Colorado, Ohio and California are decertifying the iVotronic machines for use in the upcoming primaries.

"This is not a time to plow ahead with technology that is unreliable," Medina said.

Boling resident Jim Welch, who chose not to participate in the Nov. 6 state amendment election because of a problem with one of the machines, said they could not be trusted.

"The cornerstone of our system is based on the validity, sanctity and reliability of the vote. Politicians should stand up and correct the mistake (of moving to electronic voting.)"

Benavidez disagreed, saying local leaders can't compare situations in Ohio and Florida to Wharton County.

Joe King added Welch's vote was the only documented error in the county out of 20,000 votes cast on the machines.

"That is an error rate of 0.005 percent," he said. "Paper ballots have a much higher error rate."

He added that if the commissioners were saying electronic voting isn't good for the primary then the issue will be brought back up again in August for the general election.