The machines will be used for the first time in the county's primary election on May 23. Secretary of State Charlie Daniels, along with County Judge Jack Jones and Taylor Eubank, Jefferson County Election Coordinator, were on hand to demonstrate the equipment. To increase public awareness about the changes expected at the polls this year, Daniels also announced a voter education campaign that includes public service announcements and a website, www.VoteNaturally.org.
Jefferson County is one of 13 counties in Arkansas required to completely overhaul their elections process and replace outdated election equipment in time for the May primary. The 2002 Help America Vote Act mandated replacement of all punch cards and lever machines by 2006, which means that 443,059 registered voters in 13 counties will be voting on new equipment come May 23.
In addition to prohibiting the use of punch cards and lever machines, HAVA also requires at least one Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) machine to be placed in each polling site in Arkansas. For many counties, that led to a full-scale replacement of old optical scan equipment in favor of the new touch screens. Jefferson and the other 12 counties will be the first to fully transition to the new configuration by May, while other counties will install one machine per polling site for the primary and complete the rest of their transition by November.
The Secretary of State's office purchased the voting machines for Jefferson County after the county quorum court opted to use a full system of electronic voting to comply with HAVA. The state negotiated a $15 million contract with Election Systems and Software of Omaha, Nebraska, to deliver and install the machines across the state. The contract, signed in November, marked the end of a year-long procurement process in which the state evaluated proposals from three voting machine companies.
Daniels said his office began working in 2003 to develop a plan for complying with the mandates of the Help America Vote Act. In addition to purchasing new voting equipment, the state also met the requirements of centralizing the statewide voter registration system, providing standardized information at polling sites, offering provisional voting and requiring identification for first time voters registering by mail.
"It has taken three years and the cooperation of many federal, state and county officials to make HAVA a reality for Arkansas," Daniels said. "Installing new voting machines is the last and greatest step we are taking to become fully HAVA compliant."
Daniels said he is enthusiastic about implementing an accurate, accessible statewide voting system for Arkansas, since it gives the state a chance to upgrade older voting technology and apply some uniformity to polling places procedures and election night reporting. Training voters and election officials to use the new equipment is the biggest challenge the state currently faces and the area of focus for the Secretary of State, counties and ES&S.
"We have offered regional training sessions to our county election officials on all the new voting equipment and software," Daniels said. "We are also assisting the counties in reaching out to poll workers, so that everyone is familiar with how the new technology works. With 75 county clerks, 225 election commissioners and thousands of poll workers, implementing this new statewide system has required a true collaborative effort, and I feel confident that working together, we can meet the challenges we'll face."
Daniels advises voters and election officials to be patient the first time they go to the polls to use the new equipment. "Everyone is learning the new system, so please be patient and feel free to ask any questions." Once voters use the technology, though, Daniels said he believes voters will enjoy how easy the touch-screens are to see and to use.
To help educate voters about the changes taking place, the Secretary of State announced a voter education campaign that reaches out to Arkansans through public service announcements, a dedicated web site and on-site demonstrations.
"Our main concern for Arkansas voters is that we make them aware of the changes they can expect at the polls," Daniels said. "We don't want anyone to be surprised or intimidated by the new equipment."
