Voting machines could be costly for
Larimer, Weld
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Brian D. Sabin- Medill
News Service
October 6, 2006
The rules, they say, may cost the county another $600,000 on
top of more than $850,000 it already spent on the new voting machines. A study
by Election Data Services shows that Larimer, Weld and more than 500 other
counties nationwide purchased new touch-screens since the last presidential
election to meet a federal funding deadline set by the Help America Vote Act.
In Weld, the new rules could cost between $20,000 and
$108,000, Weld Clerk and Recorder Steve Moreno estimated.
Larimer Clerk and Recorder Scott Doyle said the state's new
rules were unnecessary and confusing.
"I think we're in real trouble, to be honest with
you," he said. "The new procedures are going to be extremely
difficult to meet, if we can meet them at all."
The requirements were issued late last month by
A group of 13 voters brought the lawsuit to ban the computer
voting machines, which are used by every county in
Judge Lawrence Manzanares ordered state officials to write
detailed rules so that counties could make sure no one tampers with the
machines.
Dennis responded with an 11-page set of security procedures
for using the touch-screen machines. They include specific requirements for
temperature and humidity in the rooms where voting equipment is stored and
continuous video surveillance of polling places, storage spaces and rooms where
ballots are counted. The new rules also demand additional tamper-proof seals
and require that delivery workers who move the machines be followed by county
workers in a "chase vehicle."
The new requirements are "a huge expense we weren't
planning on," Larimer County Manager Frank Lancaster said. "Frankly,
I think some of the requirements are a little ridiculous. At this point we'll
have more security on unused voting machines than on evidence in a murder
trial."
New video surveillance requirements alone could cost Larimer
between $200,000 and $300,000, according to Sheriff Department Lt. Steven
Bebell, who oversees the security systems in county buildings. The state's
regulations require that all areas where election software is used be
continuously recorded for 90 days before the election and at least 30 days
after.
Both Larimer and Weld counties use motion-activated cameras
to monitor their election sites. Officials from both counties said those
cameras will be upgraded and additional ones will be added to meet the new
requirements.
Counties must then store all of the footage for 25 months.
Storing 120 days worth of round-the-clock digital surveillance video requires a
huge amount of computer memory. Bebell estimates that he would need 37
terabytes, more than all of the county's computer systems combined, to store
all of that video for more than two years. He said the requirement is
unreasonable. "Even