By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County election leaders stopped short of picking a new voting system Tuesday, but they did offer some direction in case Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell makes good on his threat to pick one for them today.

HOW OTHERS VOTE

Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties use Shouptronic machines, an older electronic voting system. Dearborn County and Clermont County use an ES&S optical-scan system. Butler and Warren - like Hamilton County - use punch-card ballots. Both have chosen Diebold for their new voting systems, and the secretary of state's office has targeted Butler to use the new system in this November's election. However, the Butler Board of Elections wants a voter-verifiable paper trail, so that will push back its startup, director Robert Mosketti said Tuesday.

"I think being forced into a decision today - and we are being forced - is inappropriate," said Michael Barrett, county GOP chairman and a Board of Elections member.

The four-person board unanimously agreed to send a report to Blackwell - a Republican from Cincinnati - saying the board is not ready to make the multimillion-dollar decision on which of three companies it wants to buy new electronic voting equipment from.

The report also notes, however, that Barrett, Republican Todd Ward, and the election board staff prefer Hart InterCivic based on what they know so far. The two other board members, Democrats Tim Burke and Daniel Radford, refused to give a preference.

"I don't want this thing to end tomorrow at 10 o'clock with a system we have no control over," Board of Elections Director John Williams said.

Blackwell, the state's top elections official, ordered all counties still using punch-card ballots to select a new voting system by mid-January.

Most of the money - some $130 million statewide - is coming from the federal Help America Vote Act, passed after Florida's infamous problems with butterfly ballots in 2000.

The law requires punch cards to be phased out by 2006, but Blackwell is hoping to get new systems in 31 Ohio counties by November.

Last week, he said that if the five holdout counties, including Hamilton, didn't pick by today, his office would make the decision at 10 this morning. Tuesday evening, a spokesman refused to say whether Blackwell would follow through and, if so, whether the partial support for Hart InterCivic would influence his decision.

"Secretary Blackwell will meet with his elections and legal staff to begin the process of resolving issues of those who haven't picked," spokesman James Lee said.

Hamilton County elections staff visited the site of one electronic system - Alameda County, Calif., which is using Diebold. California is having problems with Diebold, however - the company is under investigation by the secretary of state's office there regarding whether it installed uncertified software on voting machines.

It's not fair to pick a system without visiting all of them, said Board of Elections chairman Burke, who is also co-chairman of the county Democratic Party.

Hart InterCivic chairman David Hart, who attended Tuesday's meeting, said he understood the board's procedural concerns and was pleased with what support his Austin, Texas-based company got.

The Hart system, tested last year in a special election in Lockland, gives voters a number to enter into the voting booth computer before they vote. They use a wheel to highlight their choices on the screen.

The systems offered by the two other companies - Diebold and ES&S - use touch screens like those found at some ATMs.

The board's report to Blackwell sets 10 conditions for adoption of any new voting system, although it's unlikely they're binding. Among them: If the General Assembly or Congress require a voter-verifiable paper trail, they must also provide funding for it.

There's a nationwide debate over whether electronic voting systems should give voters a paper receipt listing their choices. None of the three systems under consideration does so, and no money has been allocated to add such a feature.

Other concerns raised by board members:

• No electronic voting system has been fully certified by Blackwell because of security glitches that are still being fixed.

• Recent media reports have raised new questions, both about the systems' vulnerability to hackers and the vocal and financial support of President Bush by some companies' leaders.

• Money for new voting systems isn't in hand yet. Hamilton County is expecting $8 million to $10 million for equipment, software and training. However, the State Controlling Board is withholding all election reform funding from Blackwell while Ohio's General Assembly looks further into the paper receipt issue.

Also, Hamilton County estimates it will need 3,962 voting machines - a third more than Blackwell's office plans to give federal money for. The county would have to come up with $3 million extra for those machines.

Board members' overarching question: "It's not unlikely, it's impossible, that we're going to use the new system for November 2004, so what's the rush?" Ward said.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com