Voters with disabilities who bring their own device to assist in voting, such as a paddle button controller, will be able to plug that equipment into the machine. The voters will use a keypad with arrows to move up and left and right and a large “X” button to select a candidate in each race. If requested, an image of the ballot will appear on the voting machine screen. To assist them, the new machines will have headphones for the voter to hear details and instructions. ![]() The changes will be more substantial for voters who need special equipment because of blindness or poor vision, trouble reading, a muscular disorder that makes it difficult to hold a pen and mark an oval cleanly or some other physical issue. “The typical voting experience will be relatively unchanged,” Boyett said “If they have an error, they will now get a more robust message and it will be easier for them to resolve it without poll worker assistance, giving them more privacy.” ![]() If there are errors, such as selecting two candidates in one race or making an unrecognizable mark on the ballot, a message explaining the error and giving the voter a chance to fix it will appear on the machine's computer screen.īy comparison, the old machines displayed an error message on a tiny LCD screen. They will continue to use a pen to fill in an oval next to the name of the candidate they choose and then slide their completed ballot into the new optical scan machine. The agreement also includes four annual $120,375 payments to Dominion for software and hardware fees.įor most voters, the voting process will see little change with the new machines. The County Commission approved the nearly $1.3 million purchase of the new voting machines in June. “Have you tried shopping for spare parts for a computer from 1999 lately?” Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections Will Boyett said. With machines from 1999, it was also difficult to find supplies for repairs and maintenance. The study noted that Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner estimated last year that 30 of Florida's 67 counties should replace voting equipment before the 2016 election.Ĭarpenter said in Alachua County, “we had been seeing what you would expect from 16-year-old machines.” That included equipment failures on Election Day that forced elections workers to put back-up machines into use. Forty-three states have machines that are at least 10 years old, and 14 states, including Florida, have machines at least 15 years old in use, the Brennan Center study said. ![]() Now those machines are nearing the end of their useful life and the costs to replace outdated voting systems could be $1 billion, according to a study the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law released in mid-September.
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