FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Ballot machines were tested yesterday at Election Systems & Software on Koapaka Street. Election Advisory Council official observers, left, Elwin Spray and right, Kathi Thomason, ran sample ballots through the machines.
Testing points Any problems cropping up during the Sept. 21 primary election likely will be more related to the voters than the voting machines.
to smooth vote
Election observers say ballots
Inouye sees 'vicious' campaign
and counting machines seem
ready for their primary taskBy Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com
This was the general feeling of election observers testing the Election Systems & Software machines and ballots in a company warehouse yesterday.
[ ELECTION 2002 ] Voters are allowed to vote for candidates in only one party in a primary election but all parties are on the ballot, designated by different colors. Voters may vote in one colored section, plus a white section with nonpartisan offices.
If the voter crosses into two party columns or marks too many candidates, the machine will detect it and the voter can cast another ballot.
David Harris, an election observer since 1992, said he found "the machines are very well adjusted, working nicely."
He said the "diagnostics have changed" since the 2000 election. Machines counting the ballots not only will kick them out if there are errors, but will specify what's wrong, he said.
Harris said some people will be confused, but in going through the statistics after the last election, he was surprised at the small number of spoiled ballots.
"It's so painstaking," said Robin Loomis, with the League of Women Voters. "We try to foresee anything anyone is going to complain about. It takes tons of time."
She volunteered as an observer two years ago. "Somebody's got to do it," she said. "It's our civic duty to make sure the system is good and no one can say we're 'cooking the books.' "
"It's a much more complicated process than I ever imagined," said attorney Gil Butson, a first-time observer with fellow lawyer Wayne Nasser.
"It's a complex, well-organized system with lots of checks and balances," Nasser said. "Each step is audited along the way."
Charles Laramy, ES&S director of professional services, said the company is "constantly making improvements" and the system is "working real well."
However, he said, "It's tough to educate all the voters. If there are any errors, that's where it comes."
For example, just making a dot, check or line in an oval by a candidate won't do, he said, emphasizing the oval must be filled in completely.
ES&S had about 220 machines available for testing yesterday by counting center observers and precinct chairs. About 400 will be distributed across the state for the election.
Elections come down to voters, officials pointed out.
"It's the people factor that makes the difference, to take their responsibilities as citizens seriously and vote properly," said Dwayne Yoshina, chief elections officer.
He's still short about 1,500 precinct workers. Nonprofit organizations could do it as a fund-raising project and make quite a bit of money at $75 per day per worker, he said.
Call 453-8683 on Oahu or county clerks' offices on the neighbor islands for more information.
Big tasks ahead include getting all the equipment and machinery to polling places, training precinct officials and testing, and certifying and assigning workers to polling places, Yoshina said.
Absentee ballots are going out and absentee polling places will open Sept. 9-19. On Oahu, they will be at Honolulu Hale, the Pearlridge satellite city hall, Windward Mall, and above Bubbies at Koko Marina.
Ballots may be requested in Filipino, Chinese and Japanese languages by calling the election office.
Yoshina said the election tab over two years is more than $4 million, including staff costs and $2.6 million for the ES&S contract.
State Office of Elections
