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Soon, pen-marked ballots will be OK When the technology arrives, election tallies won�t be excruciating like this month�s By Dani Dodge Jackson County lagged behind the nation in ballot tallies for many reasons. But one reason was most obvious: About 10 percent of voters filled out their ballots in pen instead of pencil. Teams of election workers spent days upon days enhancing those pen marks with graphite stamps so the computers could read them. But this situation didn�t have to exist. There are ballot-tallying machines that read pen. There are even special "reader heads" that can be attached to the machines in Jackson County to discern pen marks. The reasons those special reader heads weren�t available in Jackson County, though, are about as complex as the Nov. 7 ballot. Among the issues: The reader heads weren�t approved for use in the state until this summer. The company that makes them wasn�t ready to push their sale or use. The system hadn�t been widely used. And Jackson County wasn�t willing to be a guinea pig. "I thought to myself, �Jiminy Christmas, I don�t want to be the first to do this,� " said County Clerk Kathy Beckett. "I just didn�t want to go there." But Beckett is looking forward to a future in which Jackson County residents can mark their ballots in pen without subsequent problems or days of delayed ballot results. In fact, when she bought computers from Nebraska-based ES&S in summer 1999, the contract specifically included these special pen-reading heads. "It�s my understanding they read everything except red ink," Beckett said. "We could have done (the Nov. 7 ballot tally) in half the time with these." Unfortunately, back in 1999, ES&S still was working out the bugs in its new pen-reading system. "This is something we�ve been working on for some time but have just got a limited amount of use in the marketplace," said Todd Urosevich, the vice president of customer service at ES&S. He said the new technology was proving not to be a panacea. The ballots had to be printed according to different standards to allow them to be read by the new reader heads, he said. Some local printing companies couldn�t match the needed requirements. In Oregon, the reader heads hadn�t even been approved for use. The November general election was breathing down their necks. "It�s something that our company had to make a choice," Urosevich said. "We were too late in the game and decided we needed to sit on this." Other counties do have systems that read pen � several, in fact, in Oregon. But those county clerks purchased election tallying machines from a different company. "I would say we have 90 percent of our ballots come in pen or in marker as opposed to about 10 percent in pencil," said Coos County Elections Deputy Joyce Beers. "And our election went very smoothly." Most people hope that with changes in technology, Jackson County may never see an election as slow as this one again. Scott Tighe, the state elections division operations manager, said the ES&S reader heads that read pen were approved for use in Oregon in June. "But I don�t know of anyone here in Oregon who has it yet," he said. "It�s like we�re approving this car for sale in Oregon but it�s not available for sale yet." That should change soon, Urosevich said. With this election behind it, ES&S will again begin to concentrate on upgrades like the new reader heads, he said. "With the advent of the all-mail-in election in Oregon, it would definitely be worth it," he said. "It certainly is a go-forward product for us." Urosevich said a number of jurisdictions � including Dallas, Texas � used the new reader heads in the general election with excellent results. In all those locations, the reader heads are used only for absentee ballots, which are a small percentage of the total ballots cast. Beckett just hopes the county will get the new technology before any more major elections are held. Still, she expects no miracles. She will either rely on extensive results from other counties, or have a test run here first before she converts wholesale to the new system. "I�m told this is the latest, greatest, most wonderful thing," Beckett said. "But I�ve been around long enough to be skeptical. Still, I called to make sure we could have them by the March election." Reach reporter Dani Dodge at 776-4471, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.