COOPERSTOWN — On Friday, Otsego County residents will have a chance to voice their opinions about which voting machines the county should buy, according to Hank Nicols, the county’s Democratic elections commissioner.
"We’ll be having two meetings that day, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 7," he said. The meetings will be held at the county’s office building, The Meadows, in Middlefield.
"This might be the last time for people to speak before the decision is made, so I hope we hear from everyone who is interested," Nicols said Wednesday.
Otsego and other counties in the state soon will be buying optical scanners or direct recording electronic (DRE) machines to replace the lever machines that have been in service for decades.
The choice of what to buy may be made by the county’s two elections commissioners, GOP Chairwoman Charlotte Koniuto, of Milford, and Nicols.
Should the two not agree, the county’s choice will be made by officials at the state Board of Elections.
The push to change voting machines comes from the federal government, which adopted the Help America Vote Act in reaction to voting problems in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.
One component of that act is that all new voting machines must be handicapped-accessible. In New York state, the machines also must provide a paper backup system to help with recounting votes. Many states already have changed their voting machines, and New York state was sued earlier this year by the federal Justice Department for not acting quickly enough.
A federal court is monitoring New York’s progress in replacing machines. On Thursday, Robert Brehm, a spokesman for the state BOE, said the state must present a plan for replacing its machines to the court by Aug. 15.
Later in the year, counties will actually get to purchase machines that have been tested and approved by the state, he said.
Brehm said that manufacturers have indicated they will submit DREs and optical scanners for testing.
The issue of which type of system to buy has been controversial locally and nationally with proponents of DREs, which look like large-screen televisions, touting their easy use.
People who favor optical scanners say they are more reliable because the paper ballot that people mark can later be recounted.
The New York State League of Women Voters is one group that has asked officials to buy scanners. On Thursday, Ellen Tillapaugh, president of the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area, said she plans to inform the group’s members about the upcoming meetings.
Sheila Ross, the county’s Republican deputy elections commissioner, noted that only county residents will be allowed to speak at the public meetings.
Others who attend may listen, she said.
Koniuto and Nicols have said they don’t want to select a machine for the county until they know what all their options are.
"It looks like that day is coming soon," Nicols said Wednesday.