Ballot Counting Machines May Be Mandated by the Legislature
By Mike Yantachka and Denis Delaney,
January 26, 2012, page 8.....

Selectman Dennis Delaney
A senator I knew in the Statehouse often warmed up his floor comments with that familiar bit of Vermont wisdom: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Well, Montpelier is again poised to fix something that isn’t “broke,” and that is our way, in Charlotte, of voting by paper ballot. There is a bill pending that mandates that any town with 1,000 or more registered voters must switch to machine tabulation.

Representative Mike Yantachka
Yes. Last April the Vermont House passed H.298, which standardizes ballots used for statewide elections. One of the provisions of H.298 requires towns with more than 1,000 registered voters (Charlotte has around 2,900) to use vote tabulating machines for statewide races in general elections, i.e., November elections, starting in 2014. Federal money from the “Help America Vote Act” would pay for the machines, for their annual maintenance and for half the cost of programming them for an election. The reasoning is that the machines are more accurate and that results would be available faster.

Delaney
My wife, Sharron, and I have lived in Charlotte for almost 40 years. I have always relished going to the polls on election days and, with paper ballot in hand, going into a makeshift booth to choose. Those voting days always are filled with a warm community dynamic. The paper ballot seemed to enhance the good feeling of being a Charlotter.

Yantachka
Considering Charlotte’s record of rejecting vote tabulating machines in favor of hand counting ballots, and upon the recommendation of the Selectboard and our Town Clerk, I introduced an amendment to allow a town to opt out of using the machines if the town’s Board of Civil Authority votes to do so. As I stated on the floor of the House, “Process is often as important as results, especially when it comes to community spirit and traditions. It is true that in this age of technology we have become used to instantaneous results and can become impatient when things take a little longer. But it does not mean we have to throw out something of value to a community simply for the sake of expediency.”

Delaney
Just as important to election days are the dozens of citizen volunteers who count ballots by hand on election nights. No textbook or classroom could give you a democracy lesson like that. Right up front they see how citizens make their choices for who will lead us. But most important in all of this is Town Clerk Mary Mead who runs an impeccable ballot counting process. So I have to ask, what’s broke?
A selectman in Monkton told me recently that his town had switched to machine tabulation. “Yes, it works well enough,” he said, but there was a trade off: Going to machines seemed to lessen community feeling and the high folks feel as they choose. Maybe something was fixed there that wasn’t broke.

Yantachka
Well, my amendment was defeated on a floor vote, and the bill was passed and sent on to the Senate where it awaits assignment to the Government Operations Committee. I spoke with Senator Jeanette White, the chair, who assured me that members of Charlotte’s community will have an opportunity to testify regarding Charlotte’s desire to continue hand-counting ballots before the bill is voted on in the Senate. If anyone would like to weigh in on this issue, they can contact me by e-mail (myantachka@ leg.state.vt.us ) or phone (425-3960) or contact Senator Claire Ayer (D-Addison), the Vice Chair of the Senate Government Operations Committee (cayer@leg.state.vt.us, 759-2748).