Voting Machine simplifies voting process for students

Janet Hoffman, associate professor of rhetoric at Georgia College & State University, is introducing voters to the new computerized voting machines.

Hoffman believes voting on the new machines offers students a chance to participate in history in the making.

In November, Georgia will become the first state to implement standard, computerized voting machines for the entire state, and Hoffman is working to make the transition smooth for many voters.

Hoffman has devoted much of her time to explaining the advantages the new technology offers. She has performed demonstrations at churches, grocery stores, banks and many other “places where a lot of people gather.”

She believes the state is instituting “the most fundamental voting reform,” and hopes that other states will follow suit. “If all goes well, we’re going to lead the nation,” she said.

According to Hoffman, voting on the new machines will be a breeze. After providing the proper identification, voters will be given an access card. The card contains no personal information. It simply proves that the person is a registered voter.

The voter will then go to the upright voting screen and insert the card. Then, the voting begins.

First, an instruction screen will appear. The voter will touch the “NEXT” box, and a series of candidates/issues to be voted on will appear. The voter will touch the box of his or her choice for each item, touch “NEXT” , and continue. This process repeats until the voter has been given a chance to vote for each item. Finally, a review screen will appear, that shows all of the selections made. If the voter left an item blank, or chooses to change a vote, he or she simply touches the proper box to return to the item and cast a new vote. Once all selections have been made and the voter is satisfied with all selections, he or she will complete the process by touching the “CAST BALLOT” box.

Each vote will be stored on a memory card in the machine. There is one memory card per machine that tallies votes throughout the day. According to Todd Blackwell, the Baldwin County Elections Supervisor and Probate Court Judge, votes from each precinct will be transferred to one card, which contains the results from the precinct. The cards will then be taken to the courthouse to be totaled with all other precinct votes.

According to Hoffman, who is also a member of the Board of Directors for Macon’s League of Women Voters, “There is a certain percentage of people who have computer phobias or that do not understand the technology. There is absolutely nothing compromising about this.” To the contrary, she said, “This represents a move in the direction of defining the necessary accommodations in vote tallying. Everyone’s vote is counted adequately.”

Diebold, a company that makes automated teller machines (ATMs), is manufacturing the new voting machines, Hoffman said.

“The state did a lot of research on various systems, so we didn’t just go with the (least expensive),” she said.

Hoffman is confident in the new voting technology and said there are many people to thank for its implementation.

“Immediately after the confusion over miscounts in 2000, State Senator Cathy Cox took on the initiative and received 100 percent backing from Governor (Roy) Barnes,” Hoffman said. She also said that thanks goes to those setting the systems up, training voters and recruiting citizen volunteers.

Hoffman said the most gratifying part of demonstrations is that trained voters know exactly what to expect when they go to the polls.

“After learning how the new voting technology works, they are the experts,” she said.

Oct. 7 is the last day to register for the general election, and both Hoffman and Blackwell encourage students to go to the polls. Students can pick up a voter registration application in Hoffman’s office on the third floor of A&S or in Blackwell’s office, Room 109 in the Baldwin County Courthouse.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 4 2002. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry