MERCER COUNTY

Touch-screen voting system is going to be put to a vote

Mercer County residents still have about three months to catch what James R. Bennington billed as his "voting road-show."

Bennington, the Mercer County elections director, has been using his free time to show off a touch-screen voting system that he hopes will replace the county’s mechanical booths.

The Mercer County Board of Elections voted Thursday to put a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot that will ask voters to decide if an electronic system should be used at polling places in the county. If voters support the new system, the county would have two years to implement it.

But Bennington said touch screens could improve the voting -- and vote-tallying -- process as early as the 2001 primary election.

"I’m excited about it. I’ve been working with computers for 38 years and this is the best thing I’ve seen," Bennington said of the touch screen.

Bennington’s excitement has led him to travel throughout the county with a briefcase-sized touch-screen machine that weighs about 18 pounds. His campaign will include future stops at a host of summer fairs and senior centers -- and wherever else he can set up shop. By election day, the board estimated that Bennington’s office will have given more than 50 demonstrations.

"The response has been very good," Bennington said.

The machine is similar to ones that are used in convenience stores to order "custom-built" sandwiches. Bennington said some voting precincts in North Carolina have used the touch screens for drive-up voting.

Two Pennsylvania counties already are using the touch screens, Bennington said. In Greene County, Bennington said, "They (election officials) are so happy they’re not counting paper ballots the next day."

Jefferson Township, which used the touch screen in the primary election, faxed their tallies nine minutes after the polls closed at 8 p.m. "We’re normally here after midnight," Bennington said of the typical election routine.

The mechanical machines are costly and difficult to maintain, said Mercer County Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor, who sits on the elections board. Some of the machines are held together by bailing wire and duct tape, Bennington added.

The board did not say what it would cost to install an electronic system, but said costs could be recouped in five to seven years.

Commissioner Brian W. Shipley said he was glad to "move this issue forward and put it in the hands of the voters of Mercer County."

Future referendums could be approved at their fingertips.