This looks like the AutoMark. Is quality control slipping, or did it always stink? If not, why now?
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2006/11/17/montana/c02111706_02.txt
*Voters complain about faint ovals on ballots
**/ By The Associated Press - 11/16/06
/*
BOZEMAN (AP) --- Gallatin County election officials have fielded more
than 100 formal complaints from voters who said the ovals they were
required to fill in on their Nov. 7 ballots were too faint.
Officials said nothing could be done about the problem before the
election, but they're trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.
''Correcting this is definitely something we want to do,'' said Bowen
Greenwood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brad Johnson. ''Technical
discussions of how to do that have not started yet, but that is the goal.''
The problems stemmed from a technical issue with electronic
vote-counting machines supplied to the state by Election Systems &
Software of Omaha, Neb.
The machines were necessary to help Montana comply with the federal Help
America Vote Act.
However, state law requires paper ballots, and that puts constraints on
the type of equipment that can be used. Greenwood said ES&S was the only
company the state could find that could provide machines that balanced
federal and state requirements.
The machines electronically count votes marked on ballots, which are
then tallied by a central computer. Ovals with dark outlines can lead to
miscounted votes, Greenwood said.
''These types of machines have to have (the ovals) be lighter, and that
makes them harder to see,'' Greenwood said.
Gallatin County election officials said the problem was frustrating.
Clerk and Recorder Shelley Vance said the county ballot was delivered by
ES&S as an electronic document that could not be altered by local
printers, even though it was obvious the faint ovals would present a
problem.
''We've used this company since 1992, and I believe in the company,''
Vance said. ''But I think they delivered an unacceptable product to the
citizens of Gallatin County.''