MIKE SCHREIBER

Looking for a piece of history?

McKean County’s old, bulky lever-type voting machines are now
available – free of charge.

On Saturday, the county commissioners, acting as the Board of
Elections, placed an advertisement in The Era announcing the
availability of the machines, which have been replaced under
federal mandate by new electronic versions that are more than half
their size.

“For weeks and months we’ve been trying to figure out what to do
with the leftover machines,” County Administrator Richard Casey
said Monday. “The machines really have no value. We did try and
find someone who would at least give us some salvage value. It’s
been hard to get anybody to come pick them up.”

All told, county officials said between 54 and 60 machines will
be available to the public on a first come, first serve basis.

There is no limit to the number of machines that can be picked
up by an interested party; contact Director of Elections Judy
Ordiway at the county courthouse in Smethport to make arrangements
to do so.

According to Casey, one of the machines has been saved and will
be given to the McKean County Historical Society as a memento of
times gone by.

As it stands, the machines are being stored in a barn near the
Old County Home along U.S. Route 6 and with the City of Bradford’s
Office of Economic and Community Development.

“Those are two central locations that allowed us to get them out
of the areas they are now,” Casey said referring to the county’s 42
voting precincts. “We pay a rental fee on those areas.”

The county had used the machines for several years, according to
Ordiway, adding neighboring Warren County put its lever machines
out for bid. The county later refused all bids and sent them to a
scrap metal company.

County officials said the machines will be available until Nov.
30. After that date, like Warren County, the county will send them
to a salvage company.

The new electronic machines were first used across the county
during the primary election, where they were dubbed a success by
Ordiway. The machines also fared well during the general election,
despite some level of concern among those using the devices for the
first time.

The machines are made by Electronics Systems Software
(ES&S). All but one of the county’s voting precincts currently
use the machines, with Sergeant Township the only one using paper
ballots.

The lever-type machines were decertified by the federal
government following 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.

Counties were required to install the machines as part of the
Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The new machines are a little larger
than a suitcase, with a rectangular screen. They also come equipped
with safeguards for voters making mistakes during the process and
are able to handle write-in candidates.