On Tuesday, 77 of the 82 counties in Mississippi will use new Diebold electronic voting machines in the midterm elections. It will be the first time electronic voting of any form will be used in most of these counties.
The Diebold machines use touch screens for voters to cast their ballots. However, there have been some problems using the electronic voting systems touch screens in Florida elections. Some voters complained that they had to press the touch screen repeatedly and ask election officials for assistance before the machine would register the vote correctly.
Starkville Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey said the new voting machines are the result of Secretary of State Eric Clark’s push to get electronic voting in Mississippi.
“Electronic voting machines are still new for us, so I think only time will tell how it will go,” Corey said.
Vote tampering has been a major concern with electronic voting. Princeton University released the AccuVote-TS Analysis showing how the Diebold systems could be hacked.
Corey said vote tampering is one of his main concerns behind electronic voting.
“Some of my concerns were eased when I learned that the machines are equipped with a paper backup,” Corey said.
When a voter casts the ballot, a sheet of paper is printed out with the vote and sealed directly into a canister, Corey said.
“I think it [electronic voting] may be a little confusing the first time they use it, but it should be fine as long as there’s sufficient staff,” Corey said.
Lee County circuit clerk Joyce Loftin said her county is one of the five in the state that opted to not use the Diebold machines.
“The Board of Supervisors made the decision,” Loftin said. “They wanted a paper trail of the paper ballot.”
Loftin said the board also took into account that some people in the county may have been intimidated by the electronic voting.
Lee County has always had a system of second chance voting where a ballot was looked over at the precinct, so that if there was a problem the voter could fix it, Loftin said.
“Probably one of the main reasons why the other counties chose the new machines was that they did not have the second chance voting,” Loftin said. “Most of them did not check the ballots at the precincts, but at a central location where the votes from several precincts are brought together, making it impossible for the person to recast the vote if there was a problem.”
Loftin said a great deal of money has been spent by the counties for the new voting equipment.
“I would encourage people to get everyone out to vote. Every election is important,” Loftin added.
Bob Harell, Clay County circuit clerk, said the electronic voting machines should make things easier.
“It is easier for the disabled and visually impaired because they can listen to an audio ballot and can have larger text displayed,” Harell said.
Harell said his office had received some complaints from some voters over the age of 65 about the new technology, but the voters had said it was easy once they were shown the machines and how to work them.
“It’s going to be a lot easier for the voters and a lot more accurate,” Harell said.
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