For the first time, voters in McKean County will be able to
practice casting their ballots online – nine weeks ahead of the
primary election.

On Thursday, Director of Elections Judy Ordiway contacted The
Era to say an electronic version of the county’s newly ordered
voting machines is available for use – and practice – online
through a link from the company, Election Systems Software, to the
county’s Web site.

The county’s Web site can be found at www.mckeancountypa.org.
From the home page, voters can scroll down to the link “Click here
for electronic voting machine demo” and be prompted through the
demonstration.

“You can actually go in and do the process from the voter’s
point of view,” Ordiway said. “Hopefully, this will help to calm
some nerves.”

The county will make history this year by converting its voting
system from the lever-type machines to electronic versions, as part
of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which was spurred by
the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential race, which was eventually settled
in the U.S. Supreme Court as a result of Florida’s protracted
ballot review. As a result, the lever-type machines were
decertified by the federal government.

A recent battle in the state’s higher courts, however, put the
change to electronic machines in jeopardy. The court battle ensued
after a group of Westmoreland County voters sued the county in
Commonwealth Court over the purchase of the electronic machines
without first having voter approval by referendum. The measure was
later overturned by the state Supreme Court.

If the lower court ruling would have stood, voters in McKean
County would have been forced to use paper ballots to cast their
choices.

Ordiway said this is a first of its kind chance for voters in
the county to experience voting before actually going out to the
polls, in part, because the county’s Web site alone is fairly new
and now has the ability to offer such programs.

“It’s the first time we have had something interactive on the
Web,” Ordiway said. “Voters will actually be able to experience
what the machines are like.”

Upon entering the iVotronic touch screen voting simulator,
residents will be lead through the three step process, which also
includes steps on how to activate a ballot, select a candidate, do
a write-in and review a ballot.

According to the simulator, a secure electronic ballot is
contained in a ballot activator cartridge, which eliminates the
need for a traditional paper ballot. The simulator also indicates
it’s impossible to “over-vote” or vote for more individuals than
may be elected to any one office. Voters can also choose not to
vote for a particular race by just leaving it blank.

Officials said the electronic ballot is activated by the poll
worker at the precinct. Voters will also have the ability to choose
a language to use the system.

When going through the system, voters will simply have to touch
anywhere on a candidate’s name to choose him or her for office. To
change a selection, the voter would touch the candidate’s name
again. To navigate through the ballot, voters will touch the “next
page” or “previous page” words or symbols at the bottom of the
ballot.

To do a write-in, voters will touch the word and follow
instructions, which calls for a voter to type in the individual’s
name on an electronic key pad, complete with space bar, backspace
and cancel and accept buttons. The write-in name will then appear
on the larger ballot screen.

The system also has a screen available for any propositions that
might be voted on in a given year. The last page is a ballot
summary which finalizes the choices. The ballot will be complete
when a voter presses a flashing red “vote” button at the top of the
ballot. Voters should wait to see a “thank you for voting” screen,
which means an individual has properly cast a ballot, before
leaving the polling site.

According to Ordiway, voters will also have the chance to go
through the system during upcoming training sessions which will be
held closer to the election.

Ordiway will travel to Butler today to meet with company
officials and obtain additional information on the system.

All told, the county is slated to receive machines for each of
its 42 precincts through a $320,000 grant through the Pennsylvania
Department of State.

The primary election is May 16.